# CVE-2026-68480: x86/bugs: Make Safe-RET robust against interrupt injection

> An attacker can inject interrupts to bypass Safe-RET mitigations, potentially leaking sensitive data via speculative execution.

- **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:** 6 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 18 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-68480, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68480, GHSA-76mh-mwm6-543c, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68480

## What is CVE-2026-68480?

CVE-2026-68480 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Aug 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:

x86/bugs: Make Safe-RET robust against interrupt injection

An attacker injecting interrupts while the Safe-RET mitigation executes
on machines affected by SRSO can neutralize the safe return sequence,
potentially leading to data leakage through speculative execution.

Fixup register state as if the Safe-RET sequence executed successfully
by "emulating" it, in a manner of speaking, and avoid executing a RET
instruction after returning from the interrupt.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68480?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-68480?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-68480 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68480 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-68480 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-68480 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Aug 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-2026-68480 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-2026-68480/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68480/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68480
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68480
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-68480

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68480/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.