Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-39683

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.5 / 4.10 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
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: tracing: Limit access to parser->buffer when trace_get_user failed When the length of the string written to set_ftrace_filter exceeds FTRACE_BUFF_MAX, the following KASAN alarm will be triggered: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in strsep+0x18c/0x1b0 Read of size 1 at addr ffff0000d00bd5ba by task ash/165 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 165 Comm: ash Not tainted 6.16.0-g6bcdbd62bd56-dirty Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) Call trace: show_stack+0x34/0x50 (C) dump_stack_lvl+0xa0/0x158 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x88/0x398 print_report+0xb0/0x280 kasan_report+0xa4/0xf0 __asan_report_load1_noabort+0x20/0x30 strsep+0x18c/0x1b0 ftrace_process_regex.isra.0+0x100/0x2d8 ftrace_regex_release+0x484/0x618 __fput+0x364/0xa58 ____fput+0x28/0x40 task_work_run+0x154/0x278 do_notify_resume+0x1f0/0x220 el0_svc+0xec/0xf0 el0t_64_sync_handler+0xa0/0xe8 el0t_64_sync+0x1ac/0x1b0 The reason is that trace_get_user will fail when processing a string longer than FTRACE_BUFF_MAX, but not set the end of parser->buffer to 0. Then an OOB access will be triggered in ftrace_regex_release-> ftrace_process_regex->strsep->strpbrk. We can solve this problem by limiting access to parser->buffer when trace_get_user failed.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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:>= 4.4.269, < 4.5>= 4.9.269, < 4.10>= 4.14.233, < 4.15>= 4.19.191, < 4.20>= 5.4.118, < 5.5>= 5.10.36, < 5.10.241>= 5.11.20, < 5.12>= 5.12.3, < 5.15.190>= 5.16, < 6.1.149>= 6.2, < 6.6.103>= 6.7, < 6.12.44>= 6.13, < 6.16.4
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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 4.5 / 4.10 / 4.15 or later
Fixed in 4.54.104.15
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel: upgrade to 4.5, 4.10, 4.15, or 4.20 (or later) depending on your branch; Debian 11: upgrade to the latest Debian Bullseye kernel security update

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. 2. For Debian 11 (Bullseye) systems: Apply the Debian kernel security update that includes the fix (package: linux-image-*)
  3. 3. For upstream Linux kernel users: Apply the vendor patch from commit 3079517a5ba80901fe828a06998da64b9b8749be to your kernel source tree, then rebuild the kernel
  4. 4. After patching, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  5. 5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches a fixed release (4.5, 4.10, 4.15, or 4.20 or later in each respective branch)
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding custom kernel modules; ensure compatibility with userspace tools before upgrading

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 $3,200. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-39683 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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