CVE-2025-68375
- Published: 2025-12-24T11:16:01.097
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
perf/x86: Fix NULL event access and potential PEBS record loss
When intel_pmu_drain_pebs_icl() is called to drain PEBS records, the
perf_event_overflow() could be called to process the last PEBS record.
While perf_event_overflow() could trigger the interrupt throttle and
stop all events of the group, like what the below call-chain shows.
perf_event_overflow()
-> __perf_event_overflow()
->__perf_event_account_interrupt()
-> perf_event_throttle_group()
-> perf_event_throttle()
-> event->pmu->stop()
-> x86_pmu_stop()
The side effect of stopping the events is that all corresponding event
pointers in cpuc->events[] array are cleared to NULL.
Assume there are two PEBS events (event a and event b) in a group. When
intel_pmu_drain_pebs_icl() calls perf_event_overflow() to process the
last PEBS record of PEBS event a, interrupt throttle is triggered and
all pointers of event a and event b are cleared to NULL. Then
intel_pmu_drain_pebs_icl() tries to process the last PEBS record of
event b and encounters NULL pointer access.
To avoid this issue, move cpuc->events[] clearing from x86_pmu_stop()
to x86_pmu_del(). It’s safe since cpuc->active_mask or
cpuc->pebs_enabled is always checked before access the event pointer
from cpuc->events[].
Related CVE by CWE
No related CWE found.
Top CVE for Vendor
No vendor taxonomy on this entry.
Recently Exploited Similar Vulnerabilities
No recent KEV-listed items for this vendor/product.
How to fix CVE-2025-68375
Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/x86: Fix NULL event access and potential PEBS record loss When intel_pmu_drain_pebs_icl() is called to drain PEBS records, the perf_event_overflow() could be called to process the last PEBS record. While perf_event_overflow() could trigger the interrupt throttle and stop all events of the group, like what […]
Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public
How to Fix:
- Check if you're running the affected product
- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access
- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)
- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations
Exploit Difficulty Assessment
Vulnerability Timeline
CVE details first published to NVD database
Added to this CVE tracking system
Detection Rules & IOCs
No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.
No vendor/product data available.