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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38466

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.240 / 5.15.189 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: Revert to requiring CAP_SYS_ADMIN for uprobes Jann reports that uprobes can be used destructively when used in the middle of an instruction. The kernel only verifies there is a valid instruction at the requested offset, but due to variable instruction length cannot determine if this is an instruction as seen by the intended execution stream. Additionally, Mark Rutland notes that on architectures that mix data in the text segment (like arm64), a similar things can be done if the data word is 'mistaken' for an instruction. As such, require CAP_SYS_ADMIN for uprobes.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.8, < 5.10.240>= 5.11, < 5.15.189>= 5.16, < 6.1.146>= 6.2, < 6.6.99>= 6.7, < 6.12.39>= 6.13, < 6.15.7= 6.16
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.10.240 / 5.15.189 / 6.1.146 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2405.15.1896.1.146
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.10.240, 5.15.189, 6.1.146, or 6.6.99 (depending on your current branch); Debian 12.0 or later kernel

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. 2. Determine which version range your current kernel falls into (5.8-5.10.x, 5.11-5.15.x, 5.16-6.1.x, or 6.2-6.6.x)
  3. 3. For 5.8 <= version < 5.10.240: upgrade to kernel 5.10.240 or later
  4. 4. For 5.11 <= version < 5.15.189: upgrade to kernel 5.15.189 or later
  5. 5. For 5.16 <= version < 6.1.146: upgrade to kernel 6.1.146 or later
  6. 6. For 6.2 <= version < 6.6.99: upgrade to kernel 6.6.99 or later
  7. 7. For Debian 11.0 systems: upgrade to a newer Debian kernel that includes the fix, or apply the upstream patch from commit 183bdb89af1b5193b1d1d9316986053b15ca6fa4
  8. 8. Reboot into the new kernel
Caveat Users without CAP_SYS_ADMIN will no longer be able to use uprobes; this may break existing workflows or tools that relied on unprivileged uprobe access

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-38466 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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