SOC status:Duty analyst on shift

UK Cyber Defence
VulnerabilityModified

CVE-2025-39840

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: audit: fix out-of-bounds read in audit_compare_dname_path() When a watch on dir=/ is combined with an fsnotify event for a single-character name directly under / (e.g., creating /a), an…

HIGH 7.1EPSS 0.15%

Does this matter?

High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.15%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: audit: fix out-of-bounds read in audit_compare_dname_path() When a watch on dir=/ is combined with an fsnotify event for a single-character name directly under / (e.g., creating /a), an out-of-bounds read can occur in audit_compare_dname_path(). The helper parent_len() returns 1 for "/". In audit_compare_dname_path(), when parentlen equals the full path length (1), the code sets p = path + 1 and pathlen = 1 - 1 = 0. The subsequent loop then dereferences p[pathlen - 1] (i.e., p[-1]), causing an out-of-bounds read. Fix this by adding a pathlen > 0 check to the while loop condition to prevent the out-of-bounds access. [PM: subject tweak, sign-off email fixes]

CVSS 3.1
7.1 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
EPSS
0.15% probability · 5th percentile
CISA KEV
Not listed
Weakness
CWE-125
Affected
linux/linux kernel
Source
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.