CVE-2025-68806 ksmbd: fix buffer validation by including null terminator size in EA length
A buffer validation error in the Linux kernel's ksmbd SMB server allows attackers to trigger memory corruption via crafted Extended Attributes.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-68806?
CVE-2025-68806 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 13 Jan 2026. 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:
ksmbd: fix buffer validation by including null terminator size in EA length
The smb2_set_ea function, which handles Extended Attributes (EA), was performing buffer validation checks that incorrectly omitted the size of the null terminating character (+1 byte) for EA Name. This patch fixes the issue by explicitly adding '+ 1' to EaNameLength where the null terminator is expected to be present in the buffer, ensuring the validation accurately reflects the total required buffer size.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68806?
How do I fix CVE-2025-68806?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2025-68806 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68806 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-74312, BELL-CVE-2025-68806, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68806, GHSA-4wfq-6xp5-vp47, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-68806, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-68806 and 3 more.