# CVE-2025-68265: nvme: fix admin request_queue lifetime

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel NVMe driver allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges via crafted ioctl calls.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-72490, BELL-CVE-2025-68265, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68265, GHSA-2rf6-4xf4-32wc, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-68265, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-68265, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-68265, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-68265, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68265

## What is CVE-2025-68265?

CVE-2025-68265 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 Dec 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nvme: fix admin request_queue lifetime

The namespaces can access the controller's admin request_queue, and
stale references on the namespaces may exist after tearing down the
controller. Ensure the admin request_queue is active by moving the
controller's 'put' to after all controller references have been released
to ensure no one is can access the request_queue. This fixes a reported
use-after-free bug:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in blk_queue_enter+0x41c/0x4a0
  Read of size 8 at addr ffff88c0a53819f8 by task nvme/3287
  CPU: 67 UID: 0 PID: 3287 Comm: nvme Tainted: G            E       6.13.2-ga1582f1a031e #15
  Tainted: [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE
  Hardware name: Jabil /EGS 2S MB1, BIOS 1.00 06/18/2025
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   dump_stack_lvl+0x4f/0x60
   print_report+0xc4/0x620
   ? _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x70/0xb0
   ? _raw_read_unlock_irqrestore+0x30/0x30
   ? blk_queue_enter+0x41c/0x4a0
   kasan_report+0xab/0xe0
   ? blk_queue_enter+0x41c/0x4a0
   blk_queue_enter+0x41c/0x4a0
   ? __irq_work_queue_local+0x75/0x1d0
   ? blk_queue_start_drain+0x70/0x70
   ? irq_work_queue+0x18/0x20
   ? vprintk_emit.part.0+0x1cc/0x350
   ? wake_up_klogd_work_func+0x60/0x60
   blk_mq_alloc_request+0x2b7/0x6b0
   ? __blk_mq_alloc_requests+0x1060/0x1060
   ? __switch_to+0x5b7/0x1060
   nvme_submit_user_cmd+0xa9/0x330
   nvme_user_cmd.isra.0+0x240/0x3f0
   ? force_sigsegv+0xe0/0xe0
   ? nvme_user_cmd64+0x400/0x400
   ? vfs_fileattr_set+0x9b0/0x9b0
   ? cgroup_update_frozen_flag+0x24/0x1c0
   ? cgroup_leave_frozen+0x204/0x330
   ? nvme_ioctl+0x7c/0x2c0
   blkdev_ioctl+0x1a8/0x4d0
   ? blkdev_common_ioctl+0x1930/0x1930
   ? fdget+0x54/0x380
   __x64_sys_ioctl+0x129/0x190
   do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x160
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
  RIP: 0033:0x7f765f703b0b
  Code: ff ff ff 85 c0 79 9b 49 c7 c4 ff ff ff ff 5b 5d 4c 89 e0 41 5c c3 66 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa b8 10 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d dd 52 0f 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48
  RSP: 002b:00007ffe2cefe808 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010
  RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007ffe2cefe860 RCX: 00007f765f703b0b
  RDX: 00007ffe2cefe860 RSI: 00000000c0484e41 RDI: 0000000000000003
  RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000003 R09: 0000000000000000
  R10: 00007f765f611d50 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 0000000000000003
  R13: 00000000c0484e41 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: 00007ffe2cefea60
   </TASK>

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68265?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-68265?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-68265 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68265 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-68265 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-68265 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 Dec 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68265 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68265/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68265/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68265
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68265
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-68265

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68265/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.