CVE-2025-39840

Summary

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]

Affected Software

VendorProductVersion RangeStatus
LinuxLinuxe92eebb0d6116f942ab25dfb1a41905aa59472a8 < 9735a9dcc307427e7d6336c54171682f1bac9789affected
LinuxLinuxe92eebb0d6116f942ab25dfb1a41905aa59472a8 < 4540f1d23e7f387880ce46d11b5cd3f27248bf8daffected
LinuxLinux6.14affected
LinuxLinux0 < 6.14unaffected
LinuxLinux6.16.6 <= 6.16.*unaffected
LinuxLinux6.17 <= *unaffected

Weaknesses

ADP Enrichment

CISA ADP Vulnrichment

  • SSVC:
  • Exploitation: none
    • Automatable: no
    • Technical Impact: partial

References