CVE-2025-68788

Local activity disclosure via special-file fsnotify events

Published Jan 13, 2026 · Updated Jan 13, 2026

Information disclosure in Linux kernel fsnotify allows local users to infer special-file activity through parent-directory watches. The fsnotify path emits FS_ACCESS and FS_MODIFY events for special-file children to inotify or fanotify watchers on an accessible parent, even when the watcher cannot read the child. Access to the parent directory, such as /dev, is sufficient to observe another user's reads or writes as a timing side channel without reading the special file itself.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.21%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Information disclosure in Linux kernel fsnotify allows local users to infer special-file activity through parent-directory watches. The fsnotify path emits FS_ACCESS and FS_MODIFY events for special-file children to inotify or fanotify watchers on an accessible parent, even when the watcher cannot read the child. Access to the parent directory, such as /dev, is sufficient to observe another user's reads or writes as a timing side channel without reading the special file itself.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-68788
Published
Jan 13, 2026
Updated
Jan 13, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
T1005
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 13, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 13, 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?

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  1. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <635bc4def026a24e071436f4f356ea08c0eed6ff
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <6a7d7d96eeeab7af2bd01afbb3d9878a11a13d91
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7a93edb23bcf07a3aaf8b598edfc2faa8fbcc0b6
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <82f7416bcbd951549e758d15fc1a96a5afc2e900
  5. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <e0643d46759db8b84c0504a676043e5e341b6c81

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <635bc4def026a24e071436f4f356ea08c0eed6ff; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <6a7d7d96eeeab7af2bd01afbb3d9878a11a13d91; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7a93edb23bcf07a3aaf8b598edfc2faa8fbcc0b6; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <82f7416bcbd951549e758d15fc1a96a5afc2e900; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <e0643d46759db8b84c0504a676043e5e341b6c81

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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.

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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

T1005Data from Local System

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

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Your stack

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