vulnerability
Oracle Linux: CVE-2025-68183: ELSA-2026-50006: Unbreakable Enterprise kernel security update (IMPORTANT)
| Severity | CVSS | Published | Added | Modified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | (AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:C) | Dec 16, 2025 | Jan 15, 2026 | Jan 15, 2026 |
Severity
5
CVSS
(AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:C)
Published
Dec 16, 2025
Added
Jan 15, 2026
Modified
Jan 15, 2026
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ima: don't clear IMA_DIGSIG flag when setting or removing non-IMA xattr
Currently when both IMA and EVM are in fix mode, the IMA signature will
be reset to IMA hash if a program first stores IMA signature in
security.ima and then writes/removes some other security xattr for the
file.
For example, on Fedora, after booting the kernel with "ima_appraise=fix
evm=fix ima_policy=appraise_tcb" and installing rpm-plugin-ima,
installing/reinstalling a package will not make good reference IMA
signature generated. Instead IMA hash is generated,
# getfattr -m - -d -e hex /usr/bin/bash
# file: usr/bin/bash
security.ima=0x0404...
This happens because when setting security.selinux, the IMA_DIGSIG flag
that had been set early was cleared. As a result, IMA hash is generated
when the file is closed.
Similarly, IMA signature can be cleared on file close after removing
security xattr like security.evm or setting/removing ACL.
Prevent replacing the IMA file signature with a file hash, by preventing
the IMA_DIGSIG flag from being reset.
Here's a minimal C reproducer which sets security.selinux as the last
step which can also replaced by removing security.evm or setting ACL,
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/xattr.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main() {
const char* file_path = "/usr/sbin/test_binary";
const char* hex_string = "030204d33204490066306402304";
int length = strlen(hex_string);
char* ima_attr_value;
int fd;
fd = open(file_path, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0644);
if (fd == -1) {
perror("Error opening file");
return 1;
}
ima_attr_value = (char*)malloc(length / 2 );
for (int i = 0, j = 0; i < length; i += 2, j++) {
sscanf(hex_string + i, "%2hhx", &ima_attr_value[j]);
}
if (fsetxattr(fd, "security.ima", ima_attr_value, length/2, 0) == -1) {
perror("Error setting extended attribute");
close(fd);
return 1;
}
const char* selinux_value= "system_u:object_r:bin_t:s0";
if (fsetxattr(fd, "security.selinux", selinux_value, strlen(selinux_value), 0) == -1) {
perror("Error setting extended attribute");
close(fd);
return 1;
}
close(fd);
return 0;
}
ima: don't clear IMA_DIGSIG flag when setting or removing non-IMA xattr
Currently when both IMA and EVM are in fix mode, the IMA signature will
be reset to IMA hash if a program first stores IMA signature in
security.ima and then writes/removes some other security xattr for the
file.
For example, on Fedora, after booting the kernel with "ima_appraise=fix
evm=fix ima_policy=appraise_tcb" and installing rpm-plugin-ima,
installing/reinstalling a package will not make good reference IMA
signature generated. Instead IMA hash is generated,
# getfattr -m - -d -e hex /usr/bin/bash
# file: usr/bin/bash
security.ima=0x0404...
This happens because when setting security.selinux, the IMA_DIGSIG flag
that had been set early was cleared. As a result, IMA hash is generated
when the file is closed.
Similarly, IMA signature can be cleared on file close after removing
security xattr like security.evm or setting/removing ACL.
Prevent replacing the IMA file signature with a file hash, by preventing
the IMA_DIGSIG flag from being reset.
Here's a minimal C reproducer which sets security.selinux as the last
step which can also replaced by removing security.evm or setting ACL,
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/xattr.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main() {
const char* file_path = "/usr/sbin/test_binary";
const char* hex_string = "030204d33204490066306402304";
int length = strlen(hex_string);
char* ima_attr_value;
int fd;
fd = open(file_path, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0644);
if (fd == -1) {
perror("Error opening file");
return 1;
}
ima_attr_value = (char*)malloc(length / 2 );
for (int i = 0, j = 0; i < length; i += 2, j++) {
sscanf(hex_string + i, "%2hhx", &ima_attr_value[j]);
}
if (fsetxattr(fd, "security.ima", ima_attr_value, length/2, 0) == -1) {
perror("Error setting extended attribute");
close(fd);
return 1;
}
const char* selinux_value= "system_u:object_r:bin_t:s0";
if (fsetxattr(fd, "security.selinux", selinux_value, strlen(selinux_value), 0) == -1) {
perror("Error setting extended attribute");
close(fd);
return 1;
}
close(fd);
return 0;
}
Solution
oracle-linux-upgrade-kernel-uek
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