# CVE-2025-68808: media: vidtv: initialize local pointers upon transfer of memory ownership

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel vidtv driver allows attackers to cause denial of service or execute arbitrary code via improper pointer initialization.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-68808, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68808, GHSA-9hm8-83j2-jcqx, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-68808, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-68808, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-68808, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-68808, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-68808, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68808

## What is CVE-2025-68808?

CVE-2025-68808 is a high-severity 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:

media: vidtv: initialize local pointers upon transfer of memory ownership

vidtv_channel_si_init() creates a temporary list (program, service, event)
and ownership of the memory itself is transferred to the PAT/SDT/EIT
tables through vidtv_psi_pat_program_assign(),
vidtv_psi_sdt_service_assign(), vidtv_psi_eit_event_assign().

The problem here is that the local pointer where the memory ownership
transfer was completed is not initialized to NULL. This causes the
vidtv_psi_pmt_create_sec_for_each_pat_entry() function to fail, and
in the flow that jumps to free_eit, the memory that was freed by
vidtv_psi_*_table_destroy() can be accessed again by
vidtv_psi_*_event_destroy() due to the uninitialized local pointer, so it
is freed once again.

Therefore, to prevent use-after-free and double-free vulnerability,
local pointers must be initialized to NULL when transferring memory
ownership.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68808?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-68808?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-68808 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68808 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-68808 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-68808 is a high-severity 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-2025-68808 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-2025-68808/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68808/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68808
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68808
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-68808

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68808/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.