Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2025-39840)

Summary

Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2025-39840). Confidential information can be exposed externally. Mitigation: upgrade to 6.16.6 or later.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

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]

Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD OSV

Auto-generated summary

Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.

A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-39840 has been found in Kernel.
Confidential information can be exposed externally.
What to do: upgrade Kernel to 6.16.6 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Kernel CVE-2025-39840" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2025-39840 (Kernel)
Attack vector: local / no user interaction
Patched: 6.16.6 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in Kernel.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Kernel.

🔥 Severity

Severity: ?. Confidential information can be exposed externally.

🔧 How to fix

Update to 6.16.6.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'Kernel' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.

Response actions

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

1
Identify exposure identify
```
grep -r 'Kernel' . | grep -v node_modules
```
リポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で Kernel を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。
2
Apply patch patch
```
Upgrade Kernel to 6.16.6
```
ステージング環境で 6.16.6 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
3
Post-deployment verification verify
```
Confirm patched version is live in production
```
パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

Affected packages

Linux Kernel

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.14.0"},{"fixed":"6.16.6"}]}]

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

BellSoft Alpaquita BELL-CVE-2025-39840 linux-lts Fixed in: 6.18.35-r1
Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2025-39840 linux Fixed in: 6.16.6-1
Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2025-39840 linux-hwe-edge