CVE-2025-38499
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: clone_private_mnt(): make sure that caller has CAP_SYS_ADMIN in the right userns What we want is to verify there is that clone won't expose something hidden by a mount we wouldn't be able to undo. "Wouldn't be able to undo" may be a result of MNT_LOCKED on a child, but it may also come from lacking admin rights in the userns of the namespace mount belongs to. clone_private_mnt() checks the former, but not the latter. There's a number of rather confusing CAP_SYS_ADMIN checks in various userns during the mount, especially with the new mount API; they serve different purposes and in case of clone_private_mnt() they usually, but not always end up covering the missing check mentioned above.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
✚ Propose a mitigation on Community → Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
OS impact
Linux kernel Affected 2 releases
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| 5.14 | Affected | — |
| — | Affected | 4.5 |
SUSE Affected 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| — | Affected | — |
Debian Mixed 6 releases
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| trixie | Fixed | 6.12.41-1 |
| sid | Fixed | 6.16.3-1 |
| forky | Fixed | 6.16.3-1 |
| bullseye | Fixed | 6.1.153-1~deb11u1 |
| bookworm | Fixed | 6.1.147-1 |
| 11.0 | Affected | — |
AlmaLinux Fixed 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Fixed | kernel-headers-5.14.0-611.16.1.el9_7.aarch64.rpm |
Red Hat Fixed 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Fixed | — |
Rocky Linux Fixed 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Fixed | — |
References
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:23241
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:23730
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36fecd740de2d542d2091d65d36554ee2bcf9c65
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/38628ae06e2a37770cd794802a3f1310cf9846e3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c28f922c9dcee0e4876a2c095939d77fe7e15116
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d717325b5ecf2a40daca85c61923e17f32306179
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dc6a664089f10eab0fb36b6e4f705022210191d2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e77078e52fbf018ab986efb3c79065ab35025607
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-082556.html
- https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38499.html
- https://errata.rockylinux.org/RLSA-2025:23241
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-38499
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/2387670
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/2404107
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/2414524
- https://errata.almalinux.org/9/ALSA-2025-23241.html
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.