Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2025-68194

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.2%

Published

Dec 16, 2025

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A flaw in Linux kernel support for certain USB remote controls can freeze the entire system when USB errors happen.

Exploitation
Physical Access
Attacker needs
Physical Access
Complexity
Moderate
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Denial of service
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

The imon USB driver in the Linux kernel holds the device lock indefinitely due to unbounded retry loops on -EPROTO errors in usb_rx_callback_intf0 and lack of timeout in wait_for_completion_interruptible within send_packet, leading to hung tasks and RCU stalls.

Why it matters to the business

Systems relying on imon hardware experience unresponsiveness or require reboots when USB errors occur, interrupting media and remote-control functions; the fix is available but the long publication window increases exposure for unpatched kernels.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker or faulty USB device triggers repeated -EPROTO errors or suppresses callbacks before dev_present_intf0 is set; the driver resubmits URBs forever or waits indefinitely, exhausting the lock and causing system-wide stalls.

How to fix it

Upgrade the Linux kernel to commit 519737af11c03590819a6eec2ad532cfdb87ea63 which limits error retries, relocates the dev_present_intf0 check, and adds a 10-second timeout to send_packet.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify the running kernel contains commit 519737af11c03590819a6eec2ad532cfdb87ea63; reproduce the original syzbot scenarios and confirm absence of hung tasks and printk flooding.

Typical attack path

  1. Attach or interact with imon USB device
  2. Induce -EPROTO or suppress usb_rx_callback_intf0
  3. Trigger unbounded resubmit or completion wait in send_packet
  4. Hold device lock and produce hung tasks or RCU stalls

How to detect it

Search kernel logs and task dumps for imon-related hung tasks, repeated -EPROTO messages, or RCU stalls originating from usb_rx_callback_intf0 or send_packet.

What your security team should do

  • Apply the referenced kernel commit on all affected systems
  • Disable the imon driver via module blacklist if the hardware is unused
  • Monitor kernel logs for imon-related stalls until patches are deployed

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: imon: make send_packet() more robust syzbot is reporting that imon has three problems which result in hung tasks due to forever holding device lock [1]. First problem is that when usb_rx_callback_intf0() once got -EPROTO error after ictx->dev_present_intf0 became true, usb_rx_callback_intf0() resubmits urb after printk(), and resubmitted urb causes usb_rx_callback_intf0() to again get -EPROTO error. This results in printk() flooding (RCU stalls). Alan Stern commented [2] that In theory it's okay to resubmit _if_ the driver has a robust error-recovery scheme (such as giving up after some fixed limit on the number of errors or after some fixed time has elapsed, perhaps with a time delay to prevent a flood of errors). Most drivers don't bother to do this; they simply give up right away. This makes them more vulnerable to short-term noise interference during USB transfers, but in reality such interference is quite rare. There's nothing really wrong with giving up right away. but imon has a poor error-recovery scheme which just retries forever; this behavior should be fixed. Since I'm not sure whether it is safe for imon users to give up upon any error code, this patch takes care of only union of error codes chosen from modules in drivers/media/rc/ directory which handle -EPROTO error (i.e. ir_toy, mceusb and igorplugusb). Second problem is that when usb_rx_callback_intf0() once got -EPROTO error before ictx->dev_present_intf0 becomes true, usb_rx_callback_intf0() always resubmits urb due to commit 8791d63af0cf ("[media] imon: don't wedge hardware after early callbacks"). Move the ictx->dev_present_intf0 test introduced by commit 6f6b90c9231a ("[media] imon: don't parse scancodes until intf configured") to immediately before imon_incoming_packet(), or the first problem explained above happens without printk() flooding (i.e. hung task). Third problem is that when usb_rx_callback_intf0() is not called for some reason (e.g. flaky hardware; the reproducer for this problem sometimes prevents usb_rx_callback_intf0() from being called), wait_for_completion_interruptible() in send_packet() never returns (i.e. hung task). As a workaround for such situation, change send_packet() to wait for completion with timeout of 10 seconds.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Linux Kernel 0 5.4.302
Linux Kernel 2.6.35 5.4.302
Mageia:9 kernel 0 6.6.120-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kernel-linus 0 6.6.120-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-virtualbox 0 7.1.14-14.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-xtables-addons 0 3.24-88.mga9
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_19 0 1-150600.13.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1.150600.12.38.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1.150600.12.38.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 dtb-aarch64 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-debug 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1.150600.12.38.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-kvmsmall 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-obs-qa 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 dtb-aarch64 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-64kb 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-azure 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-default 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-default-base 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1.160000.2.6
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-docs 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-kvmsmall 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-obs-build 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-obs-qa 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-rt 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-source 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-syms 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.12.0-160000.9.1

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