CVE-2025-68741 scsi: qla2xxx: Fix improper freeing of purex item
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's qla2xxx SCSI driver allows attackers to cause memory corruption, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-68741?
CVE-2025-68741 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
scsi: qla2xxx: Fix improper freeing of purex item
In qla2xxx_process_purls_iocb(), an item is allocated via qla27xx_copy_multiple_pkt(), which internally calls qla24xx_alloc_purex_item().
The qla24xx_alloc_purex_item() function may return a pre-allocated item from a per-adapter pool for small allocations, instead of dynamically allocating memory with kzalloc().
An error handling path in qla2xxx_process_purls_iocb() incorrectly uses kfree() to release the item. If the item was from the pre-allocated pool, calling kfree() on it is a bug that can lead to memory corruption.
Fix this by using the correct deallocation function, qla24xx_free_purex_item(), which properly handles both dynamically allocated and pre-allocated items.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68741?
How do I fix CVE-2025-68741?
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-2025-68741 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68741 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-73069, BELL-CVE-2025-68741, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68741, GHSA-mjw3-rr6r-w9h2, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-68741, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68741.