CVE-2025-68374 md: fix rcu protection in md_wakeup_thread
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's md subsystem allows local attackers to potentially escalate privileges or cause a system crash.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-68374?
CVE-2025-68374 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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:
md: fix rcu protection in md_wakeup_thread
We attempted to use RCU to protect the pointer 'thread', but directly passed the value when calling md_wakeup_thread(). This means that the RCU pointer has been acquired before rcu_read_lock(), which renders rcu_read_lock() ineffective and could lead to a use-after-free.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68374?
How do I fix CVE-2025-68374?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2025-68374 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68374 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-73162, BELL-CVE-2025-68374, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68374, GHSA-56x5-2pg4-9qq2, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-68374, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68374.