Local privilege escalation via oversized user addresses
Published Jul 25, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Kernel memory corruption in Linux on 64-bit RISC-V systems allows local users to gain privileges via crafted virtual addresses. The RISC-V __access_ok() boundary uses LONG_MAX, so get_user_pages_fast() accepts addresses above TASK_SIZE and can pin kernel pages for reads or writes. Any unprivileged local user can reach the deterministic path through syscalls such as futex, read, write, or io_uring, enabling kernel-memory disclosure, arbitrary kernel writes, privilege escalation, or a kernel panic.
Summary
What happened
Kernel memory corruption in Linux on 64-bit RISC-V systems allows local users to gain privileges via crafted virtual addresses. The RISC-V __access_ok() boundary uses LONG_MAX, so get_user_pages_fast() accepts addresses above TASK_SIZE and can pin kernel pages for reads or writes. Any unprivileged local user can reach the deterministic path through syscalls such as futex, read, write, or io_uring, enabling kernel-memory disclosure, arbitrary kernel writes, privilege escalation, or a kernel panic.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-38434
- Published
- Jul 25, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 25, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.10
- Affected versionversion=ad5643cf2f699989daa85d909403febd6712fccb <890ba5be6335dbbbc99af14ea007befb5f83f174
- Affected versionversion=ad5643cf2f699989daa85d909403febd6712fccb <f8b1898748dfeb4f9b67b6a6d661f354b9de3523
- Affected versionversion=ad5643cf2f699989daa85d909403febd6712fccb <fe30c30bf3bb68d4a4d8c7c814769857b5c973e6
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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