CVE-2025-38466 | perf: Revert to requiring CAP_SYS_ADMIN for uprobes

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: Revert to requiring CAP_SYS_ADMIN for uprobes Jann reports that uprobes can be used destructively when used in the middle of an instruction. The kernel only verifies there is a valid instruction at the requested offset, but due to variable instruction length cannot determine if this is an instruction as seen by the intended execution stream. Additionally, Mark Rutland notes that on architectures that mix data in the text segment (like arm64), a similar things can be done if the data word is 'mistaken' for an instruction. As such, require CAP_SYS_ADMIN for uprobes.

Published: 2025-07-25 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-38466 is rated Low Risk (24.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.16%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-38466

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.07% 0.16% +0.09%
2 2026-05-21 0.04% 0.07% +0.03%
3 2025-12-21 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38466

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38466

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-38466

GHSA-fr3c-c44p-6638 · Severity: medium — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: Revert to requiring...

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38466

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-38466 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (linux, linux-6.1), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 6. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-38466
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38466
suse medium CVE-2025-38466 severity moderate: SUSE including 477 source package names (2.1.3-6.80:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-35.1.21.12, 2.1.3-7.57:kernel-default-6.4.0-35.1, …), 981 product×package rows across 197 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (197 product lines)): Fixed 627, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 102, First Fixed 21. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38466/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38466 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, released 169, ignored 157, not-affected 63, needed 4, needs-triage 2, pending 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38466

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38466

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.8, < 5.10.240 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.189 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.146 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.99 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.39 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.7 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38466

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/183bdb89af1b5193b1d1d9316986053b15ca6fa4 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8e8bf7bc6aa6f583336c2fda280b6cea0aed5612 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a0a8009083e569b5526c64f7d3f2a62baca95164 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ba677dbe77af5ffe6204e0f3f547f3ba059c6302 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c0aec35f861fa746ca45aa816161c74352e6ada8 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5074256b642cdeb46a70ce2f15193e766edca68 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d7ef1afd5b3f43f4924326164cee5397b66abd9c Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html Third Party Advisory
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-082556.html
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