Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38651

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.15.10 / 6.16.1 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: landlock: Fix warning from KUnit tests get_id_range() expects a positive value as first argument but get_random_u8() can return 0. Fix this by clamping it. Validated by running the test in a for loop for 1000 times. Note that MAX() is wrong as it is only supposed to be used for constants, but max() is good here. [..] ok 9 test_range2_rand1 [..] ok 10 test_range2_rand2 [..] ok 11 test_range2_rand15 [..] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [..] WARNING: CPU: 6 PID: 104 at security/landlock/id.c:99 test_range2_rand16 (security/landlock/id.c:99 (discriminator 1) security/landlock/id.c:234 (discriminator 1)) [..] Modules linked in: [..] CPU: 6 UID: 0 PID: 104 Comm: kunit_try_catch Tainted: G N 6.16.0-rc1-dev-00001-g314a2f98b65f #1 PREEMPT(undef) [..] Tainted: [N]=TEST [..] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [..] RIP: 0010:test_range2_rand16 (security/landlock/id.c:99 (discriminator 1) security/landlock/id.c:234 (discriminator 1)) [..] Code: 49 c7 c0 10 70 30 82 4c 89 ff 48 c7 c6 a0 63 1e 83 49 c7 45 a0 e0 63 1e 83 e8 3f 95 17 00 e9 1f ff ff ff 0f 0b e9 df fd ff ff <0f> 0b ba 01 00 00 00 e9 68 fe ff ff 49 89 45 a8 49 8d 4d a0 45 31 [..] RSP: 0000:ffff888104eb7c78 EFLAGS: 00010246 [..] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 000000000870822c RCX: 0000000000000000 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ [..] [..] Call Trace: [..] [..] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [..] ok 12 test_range2_rand16 [..] # landlock_id: pass:12 fail:0 skip:0 total:12 [..] # Totals: pass:12 fail:0 skip:0 total:12 [..] ok 1 landlock_id [mic: Minor cosmetic improvements]

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:>= 6.15, < 6.15.10>= 6.16, < 6.16.1

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 6.15.10 / 6.16.1 or later
Fixed in 6.15.106.16.1
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.15.10 or 6.16.1 (or any later stable release)

  1. Identify current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.15.10 or later (if using 6.15.x), or to version 6.16.1 or later (if using 6.16.x)
  4. Update bootloader configuration if necessary (e.g., update-grub for GRUB)
  5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and running the landlock KUnit tests if available
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility implications with custom drivers or modules; test in staging environment first

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2025-38651 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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