---
id: CVE-2025-68742
title: >-
  kernel: bpf: Fix invalid prog->stats access when update_effective_progs fails
  (CVE-2025-68742)
summary: >-
  An invalid memory access vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's BPF
  cgroup subsystem. When update_effective_progs fails due to allocation failure
  (such as from fault injection), the code replaces the program with
  dummy_bpf_prog. If …
severity: medium
cvss: 4.7
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cvssSource: vendor
cwe: CWE-476
vendor: Red Hat
product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
affected:
  - enterprise_linux 10
  - enterprise_linux 8
  - enterprise_linux 9
published: '2025-12-24'
updated: '2026-09-18'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-18T19:49:20+00:00'
source: CSAF
sourceUrl: 'https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2025/cve-2025-68742.json'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2025/cve-2025-68742.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-68742'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2425073'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68742'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68742'
  - url: >-
      https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2025122415-CVE-2025-68742-367d@gregkh/T
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93d1964773ff513c9bd530f7686d3e48b786fa6b'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf2c990b012100610c0f1ec5c4ea434da2d080c2'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/539137e3038ce6f953efd72110110f03c14c7d97'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/56905bb70c8b88421709bb4e32fcba617aa37d41'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2579c356ccd35d06238b176e4b460978186d804b'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7dc211c1159d991db609bdf4b0fb9033c04adcbc'
tags:
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00207
epssPercentile: 0.09627
ingestedAt: '2026-09-08T15:33:26.995Z'
---

## Overview

An invalid memory access vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's BPF cgroup subsystem. When update_effective_progs fails due to allocation failure (such as from fault injection), the code replaces the program with dummy_bpf_prog. If a softirq occurs and attempts to run the BPF filter, accessing dummy_bpf_prog.prog->stats triggers an invalid memory access because the dummy program's stats pointer is NULL.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Low · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 · updated 2026-09-18 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2025/cve-2025-68742.json)

**kernel: bpf: Fix invalid prog->stats access when update_effective_progs fails** — rated Low by Red Hat. Released 2025-12-24, updated 2026-09-18.

Affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

No fix planned:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Not affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

## Remediation

Fix deferred