# CVE-2025-68757: drm/vgem-fence: Fix potential deadlock on release > A race condition in the Linux kernel's vgem fence timer handling can cause a deadlock, leading to system denial of service. - **Severity:** Not scored - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Not needed - **Attackable:** Local or same network only - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 5 Jan 2026 - **Updated:** 11 May 2026 - **Also known as:** AZL-73415, BELL-CVE-2025-68757, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68757, GHSA-89g7-8q6v-6wv8, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-68757, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-68757, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-68757, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-68757, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-68757, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68757 ## What is CVE-2025-68757? CVE-2025-68757 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 5 Jan 2026. 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: drm/vgem-fence: Fix potential deadlock on release A timer that expires a vgem fence automatically in 10 seconds is now released with timer_delete_sync() from fence->ops.release() called on last dma_fence_put(). In some scenarios, it can run in IRQ context, which is not safe unless TIMER_IRQSAFE is used. One potentially risky scenario was demonstrated in Intel DRM CI trybot, BAT run on machine bat-adlp-6, while working on new IGT subtests syncobj_timeline@stress-* as user space replacements of some problematic test cases of a dma-fence-chain selftest [1]. [117.004338] ================================ [117.004340] WARNING: inconsistent lock state [117.004342] 6.17.0-rc7-CI_DRM_17270-g7644974e648c+ #1 Tainted: G S U [117.004346] -------------------------------- [117.004347] inconsistent {HARDIRQ-ON-W} -> {IN-HARDIRQ-W} usage. [117.004349] swapper/0/0 [HC1[1]:SC1[1]:HE0:SE0] takes: [117.004352] ffff888138f86aa8 ((&fence->timer)){?.-.}-{0:0}, at: __timer_delete_sync+0x4b/0x190 [117.004361] {HARDIRQ-ON-W} state was registered at: [117.004363] lock_acquire+0xc4/0x2e0 [117.004366] call_timer_fn+0x80/0x2a0 [117.004368] __run_timers+0x231/0x310 [117.004370] run_timer_softirq+0x76/0xe0 [117.004372] handle_softirqs+0xd4/0x4d0 [117.004375] __irq_exit_rcu+0x13f/0x160 [117.004377] irq_exit_rcu+0xe/0x20 [117.004379] sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0xa0/0xc0 [117.004382] asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x1b/0x20 [117.004385] cpuidle_enter_state+0x12b/0x8a0 [117.004388] cpuidle_enter+0x2e/0x50 [117.004393] call_cpuidle+0x22/0x60 [117.004395] do_idle+0x1fd/0x260 [117.004398] cpu_startup_entry+0x29/0x30 [117.004401] start_secondary+0x12d/0x160 [117.004404] common_startup_64+0x13e/0x141 [117.004407] irq event stamp: 2282669 [117.004409] hardirqs last enabled at (2282668): [] _raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore+0x51/0x80 [117.004414] hardirqs last disabled at (2282669): [] sysvec_irq_work+0x11/0xc0 [117.004419] softirqs last enabled at (2254702): [] __do_softirq+0x10/0x18 [117.004423] softirqs last disabled at (2254725): [] __irq_exit_rcu+0x13f/0x160 [117.004426] other info that might help us debug this: [117.004429] Possible unsafe locking scenario: [117.004432] CPU0 [117.004433] ---- [117.004434] lock((&fence->timer)); [117.004436] [117.004438] lock((&fence->timer)); [117.004440] *** DEADLOCK *** [117.004443] 1 lock held by swapper/0/0: [117.004445] #0: ffffc90000003d50 ((&fence->timer)){?.-.}-{0:0}, at: call_timer_fn+0x7a/0x2a0 [117.004450] stack backtrace: [117.004453] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G S U 6.17.0-rc7-CI_DRM_17270-g7644974e648c+ #1 PREEMPT(voluntary) [117.004455] Tainted: [S]=CPU_OUT_OF_SPEC, [U]=USER [117.004455] Hardware name: Intel Corporation Alder Lake Client Platform/AlderLake-P DDR4 RVP, BIOS RPLPFWI1.R00.4035.A00.2301200723 01/20/2023 [117.004456] Call Trace: [117.004456] [117.004457] dump_stack_lvl+0x91/0xf0 [117.004460] dump_stack+0x10/0x20 [117.004461] print_usage_bug.part.0+0x260/0x360 [117.004463] mark_lock+0x76e/0x9c0 [117.004465] ? register_lock_class+0x48/0x4a0 [117.004467] __lock_acquire+0xbc3/0x2860 [117.004469] lock_acquire+0xc4/0x2e0 [117.004470] ? __timer_delete_sync+0x4b/0x190 [117.004472] ? __timer_delete_sync+0x4b/0x190 [117.004473] __timer_delete_sync+0x68/0x190 [117.004474] ? __timer_delete_sync+0x4b/0x190 [117.004475] timer_delete_sync+0x10/0x20 [117.004476] vgem_fence_release+0x19/0x30 [vgem] [117.004478] dma_fence_release+0xc1/0x3b0 [117.004480] ? dma_fence_release+0xa1/0x3b0 [117.004481] dma_fence_chain_release+0xe7/0x130 [117.004483] dma_fence_release+0xc1/0x3b0 [117.004484] ? _raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore+0x27/0x80 [117.004485] dma_fence_chain_irq_work+0x59/0x80 [117.004487] irq_work_single+0x75/0xa0 [117.004490] irq_work_r ---truncated--- ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68757? ## How do I fix CVE-2025-68757? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2025-68757 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68757 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2025-68757 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2025-68757 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 5 Jan 2026. 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-2025-68757 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-2025-68757/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68757/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68757 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68757 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-68757 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68757/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.