In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

crash: fix crashkernel resource shrink

When crashkernel is configured with a high reservation, shrinking its
value below the low crashkernel reservation causes two issues:

1. Invalid crashkernel resource objects
2. Kernel crash if crashkernel shrinking is done twice

For example, with crashkernel=200M,high, the kernel reserves 200MB of high
memory and some default low memory (say 256MB). The reservation appears
as:

cat /proc/iomem | grep -i crash
af000000-beffffff : Crash kernel
433000000-43f7fffff : Crash kernel

If crashkernel is then shrunk to 50MB (echo 52428800 >
/sys/kernel/kexec_crash_size), /proc/iomem still shows 256MB reserved:
af000000-beffffff : Crash kernel

Instead, it should show 50MB:
af000000-b21fffff : Crash kernel

Further shrinking crashkernel to 40MB causes a kernel crash with the
following trace (x86):

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000038
PGD 0 P4D 0
Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI
<snip...>
Call Trace: <TASK>
? __die_body.cold+0x19/0x27
? page_fault_oops+0x15a/0x2f0
? search_module_extables+0x19/0x60
? search_bpf_extables+0x5f/0x80
? exc_page_fault+0x7e/0x180
? asm_exc_page_fault+0x26/0x30
? __release_resource+0xd/0xb0
release_resource+0x26/0x40
__crash_shrink_memory+0xe5/0x110
crash_shrink_memory+0x12a/0x190
kexec_crash_size_store+0x41/0x80
kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x141/0x1f0
vfs_write+0x294/0x460
ksys_write+0x6d/0xf0
<snip...>

This happens because __crash_shrink_memory()/kernel/crash_core.c
incorrectly updates the crashk_res resource object even when
crashk_low_res should be updated.

Fix this by ensuring the correct crashkernel resource object is updated
when shrinking crashkernel memory.
Advisories
Source ID Title
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8029-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8030-1 Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8029-2 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8048-1 Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8029-3 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8095-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8095-2 Linux kernel (FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8100-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8095-3 Linux kernel (Real-time) vulnerabilities
Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Low


Tue, 16 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crash: fix crashkernel resource shrink When crashkernel is configured with a high reservation, shrinking its value below the low crashkernel reservation causes two issues: 1. Invalid crashkernel resource objects 2. Kernel crash if crashkernel shrinking is done twice For example, with crashkernel=200M,high, the kernel reserves 200MB of high memory and some default low memory (say 256MB). The reservation appears as: cat /proc/iomem | grep -i crash af000000-beffffff : Crash kernel 433000000-43f7fffff : Crash kernel If crashkernel is then shrunk to 50MB (echo 52428800 > /sys/kernel/kexec_crash_size), /proc/iomem still shows 256MB reserved: af000000-beffffff : Crash kernel Instead, it should show 50MB: af000000-b21fffff : Crash kernel Further shrinking crashkernel to 40MB causes a kernel crash with the following trace (x86): BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000038 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI <snip...> Call Trace: <TASK> ? __die_body.cold+0x19/0x27 ? page_fault_oops+0x15a/0x2f0 ? search_module_extables+0x19/0x60 ? search_bpf_extables+0x5f/0x80 ? exc_page_fault+0x7e/0x180 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x26/0x30 ? __release_resource+0xd/0xb0 release_resource+0x26/0x40 __crash_shrink_memory+0xe5/0x110 crash_shrink_memory+0x12a/0x190 kexec_crash_size_store+0x41/0x80 kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x141/0x1f0 vfs_write+0x294/0x460 ksys_write+0x6d/0xf0 <snip...> This happens because __crash_shrink_memory()/kernel/crash_core.c incorrectly updates the crashk_res resource object even when crashk_low_res should be updated. Fix this by ensuring the correct crashkernel resource object is updated when shrinking crashkernel memory.
Title crash: fix crashkernel resource shrink
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2025-12-16T13:48:26.998Z

Reserved: 2025-12-16T13:41:40.254Z

Link: CVE-2025-68198

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2025-12-16T14:15:52.590

Modified: 2025-12-18T15:08:25.907

Link: CVE-2025-68198

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Low

Publid Date: 2025-12-16T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2025-68198 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.