CVE-2025-68816

CVE Details

Release Date:	2026-01-13
Impact:	Moderate	What is this?

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5: fw_tracer, Validate format string parameters Add validation for format string parameters in the firmware tracer to prevent potential security vulnerabilities and crashes from malformed format strings received from firmware. The firmware tracer receives format strings from the device firmware and uses them to format trace messages. Without proper validation, bad firmware could provide format strings with invalid format specifiers (e.g., %s, %p, %n) that could lead to crashes, or other undefined behavior. Add mlx5_tracer_validate_params() to validate that all format specifiers in trace strings are limited to safe integer/hex formats (%x, %d, %i, %u, %llx, %lx, etc.). Reject strings containing other format types that could be used to access arbitrary memory or cause crashes. Invalid format strings are added to the trace output for visibility with "BAD_FORMAT: " prefix.

See more information about CVE-2025-68816 from MITRE CVE dictionary and NIST NVD

NOTE: The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.

CVSS v3 metrics

Base Score:	5.6
Vector String:	CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
Version:	3.1
Attack Vector:	Physical
Attack Complexity:	High
Privileges Required:	Low
User Interaction:	None
Scope:	Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact:	High
Integrity Impact:	None
Availability Impact:	High

Errata information

Platform	Errata	Release Date
Oracle Linux version 10 (kernel-uek)	ELSA-2026-50112	2026-02-20
Oracle Linux version 9 (kernel-uek)	ELSA-2026-50112	2026-02-20