# CVE-2025-68781: usb: phy: fsl-usb: Fix use-after-free in delayed work during device removal

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's fsl-usb PHY driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash or potentially execute code during device removal.

- **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:** 13 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 2 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-68781, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68781, GHSA-6gqm-wpjm-6gh5, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-68781, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-68781, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-68781, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-68781, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-68781, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68781

## What is CVE-2025-68781?

CVE-2025-68781 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 13 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:

usb: phy: fsl-usb: Fix use-after-free in delayed work during device removal

The delayed work item otg_event is initialized in fsl_otg_conf() and
scheduled under two conditions:
1. When a host controller binds to the OTG controller.
2. When the USB ID pin state changes (cable insertion/removal).

A race condition occurs when the device is removed via fsl_otg_remove():
the fsl_otg instance may be freed while the delayed work is still pending
or executing. This leads to use-after-free when the work function
fsl_otg_event() accesses the already freed memory.

The problematic scenario:

(detach thread)            | (delayed work)
fsl_otg_remove()           |
  kfree(fsl_otg_dev) //FREE| fsl_otg_event()
                           |   og = container_of(...) //USE
                           |   og-> //USE

Fix this by calling disable_delayed_work_sync() in fsl_otg_remove()
before deallocating the fsl_otg structure. This ensures the delayed work
is properly canceled and completes execution prior to memory deallocation.

This bug was identified through static analysis.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68781?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-68781?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-68781 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68781 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-68781 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-68781 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 13 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-2025-68781 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-2025-68781/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68781/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68781
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68781
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-68781

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68781/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.