media: imon: make send_packet() more robust
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
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.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 2.6.35 and later | 5.4.302, 5.10.247, 5.15.197, 6.1.159, 6.6.117, 6.12.58, 6.17.8, 6.18 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.35 and later Fixed in 5.4.302, 5.10.247, 5.15.197, 6.1.159, 6.6.117, 6.12.58, 6.17.8, 6.18 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.4.302, 5.10.247, 5.15.197, 6.1.159, 6.6.117, 6.12.58, 6.17.8, 6.18
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-68194
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-c97r-q83w-hp2r
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/519737af11c03590819a6eec2ad532cfdb87ea63
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f58ab83b7b7133e6baefe03a46846c4f6ce45e2f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/26f6a1dd5d81ad61a875a747698da6f27abf389b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/667afd4681781f60a644cd0d2ee6c59cb1c36208
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8231e80118463be5598daaf266c1c83650f1948b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0213e4175abbb9dfcbf7c197e3817d527f459ad5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f7f3ecb4934fff782fa9bb1cd16e2290c041b22d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eecd203ada43a4693ce6fdd3a58ae10c7819252c
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Sources
- CVE-2025-68194 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-68194 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-c97r-q83w-hp2r · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-68194 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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