Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-68259

high Nessus Plugin ID 278898

Language:

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- KVM: SVM: Don't skip unrelated instruction if INT3/INTO is replaced When re-injecting a soft interrupt from an INT3, INT0, or (select) INTn instruction, discard the exception and retry the instruction if the code stream is changed (e.g. by a different vCPU) between when the CPU executes the instruction and when KVM decodes the instruction to get the next RIP. As effectively predicted by commit 6ef88d6e36c2 (KVM:
SVM: Re-inject INT3/INTO instead of retrying the instruction), failure to verify that the correct INTn instruction was decoded can effectively clobber guest state due to decoding the wrong instruction and thus specifying the wrong next RIP. The bug most often manifests as Oops: int3 panics on static branch checks in Linux guests. Enabling or disabling a static branch in Linux uses the kernel's text poke code patching mechanism. To modify code while other CPUs may be executing that code, Linux (temporarily) replaces the first byte of the original instruction with an int3 (opcode 0xcc), then patches in the new code stream except for the first byte, and finally replaces the int3 with the first byte of the new code stream. If a CPU hits the int3, i.e. executes the code while it's being modified, then the guest kernel must look up the RIP to determine how to handle the #BP, e.g. by emulating the new instruction. If the RIP is incorrect, then this lookup fails and the guest kernel panics. The bug reproduces almost instantly by hacking the guest kernel to repeatedly check a static branch[1] while running a drgn script[2] on the host to constantly swap out the memory containing the guest's TSS. [1]:
https://gist.github.com/osandov/44d17c51c28c0ac998ea0334edf90b5a [2]:
https://gist.github.com/osandov/10e45e45afa29b11e0c7209247afc00b (CVE-2025-68259)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 278898

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2025_68259.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 12/16/2025

Updated: 12/20/2025

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: High

Score: 7.3

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.8

Temporal Score: 5.8

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:P/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2025-68259

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.8

Temporal Score: 8.1

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:U/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.5, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-starfive-6.5, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.3, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-edge, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-intel-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.0, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:bpftool, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.13, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-lowlatency, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-6.5, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-6.11, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-realtime-6.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.14, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:rtla, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-ipaclones-internal, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.14, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:linux, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-6.5, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-5.11, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.17, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-uki-virt-addons, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke-5.15, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-ibm-6.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.11, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-6.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-5.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-starfive-5.19, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-kvm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.3, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.11, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-edge, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.3, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-extra, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:perf, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-abi-stablelists, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi-realtime, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:python3-perf, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.14, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools-libs, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.19, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.04, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.8, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.10, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-6.14, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:rv, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gkeop-5.15, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.0, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools-libs-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-cross-headers, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-xilinx, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-6.2, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-realtime-6.14, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-nvidia-6.14, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gkeop-5.4, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-uki-virt, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libperf, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-allwinner-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.13, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-nvidia, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-tegra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-core, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-6.5, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libperf-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-ibm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.11, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.3, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-6.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.11, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-uki-virt-addons, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-intel-iot-realtime, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke-5.4, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi2, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-6.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-headers, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.17, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.2, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.10, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-kvm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.6, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gkeop, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.11, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-6.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-extra-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-uki-virt, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.19, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-6.8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-starfive-6.2, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-doc, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-realtime, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-6.14, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-devel, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.13, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.1, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-devel, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.5, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke-4.15, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-5.19, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-internal, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-6.2

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 12/16/2025

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2025-68259

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