CVE-2025-38434

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.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

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

  1. Jul 25, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.10
  2. Affected versionversion=ad5643cf2f699989daa85d909403febd6712fccb <890ba5be6335dbbbc99af14ea007befb5f83f174
  3. Affected versionversion=ad5643cf2f699989daa85d909403febd6712fccb <f8b1898748dfeb4f9b67b6a6d661f354b9de3523
  4. Affected versionversion=ad5643cf2f699989daa85d909403febd6712fccb <fe30c30bf3bb68d4a4d8c7c814769857b5c973e6

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.10; version=ad5643cf2f699989daa85d909403febd6712fccb <890ba5be6335dbbbc99af14ea007befb5f83f174; version=ad5643cf2f699989daa85d909403febd6712fccb <f8b1898748dfeb4f9b67b6a6d661f354b9de3523; version=ad5643cf2f699989daa85d909403febd6712fccb <fe30c30bf3bb68d4a4d8c7c814769857b5c973e6

Published CVSS scores

5.5CanonicalCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.8kernel.orgCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
8.5CanonicalCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo