CVE-2025-68169EPSS p7.7%
CVE-2025-68169CVE-2025-68169
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netpoll: Fix deadlock in memory allocation under spinlock
Fix a AA deadlock in refill_skbs() where memory allocation while holding
skb_pool->lock can trigger a recursive lock acquisition attempt.
The deadlock scenario occurs when the system is under severe memory
pressure:
1. refill_skbs() acquires skb_pool->lock (spinlock)
2. alloc_skb() is called while holding the lock
3. Memory allocator fails and calls slab_out_of_memory()
4. This triggers printk() for the OOM warning
5. The console output path calls netpoll_send_udp()
6. netpoll_send_udp() attempts to acquire the same skb_pool->lock
7. Deadlock: the lock is already held by the same CPU
Call stack:
refill_skbs()
spin_lock_irqsave(&skb_pool->lock) <- lock acquired
__alloc_skb()
kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof()
slab_out_of_memory()
printk()
console_flush_all()
netpoll_send_udp()
skb_deq
Scoring
| EPSS | 0.19% probability of exploitation · percentile 7.7% · 2026-10-17T12:00:28Z |
| Last modified | 2026-10-14 |