Linux Kernel up to 6.19-rc1 fsnotify utimensat information disclosure

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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3.4$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as critical has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.159/6.6.119/6.12.63/6.18.2/6.19-rc1. This issue affects the function utimensat of the component fsnotify. The manipulation results in information disclosure. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2025-68788. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.159/6.6.119/6.12.63/6.18.2/6.19-rc1. It has been classified as problematic. Affected is the function utimensat of the component fsnotify. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a information disclosure vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-200. The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fsnotify: do not generate ACCESS/MODIFY events on child for special files inotify/fanotify do not allow users with no read access to a file to subscribe to events (e.g. IN_ACCESS/IN_MODIFY), but they do allow the same user to subscribe for watching events on children when the user has access to the parent directory (e.g. /dev). Users with no read access to a file but with read access to its parent directory can still stat the file and see if it was accessed/modified via atime/mtime change. The same is not true for special files (e.g. /dev/null). Users will not generally observe atime/mtime changes when other users read/write to special files, only when someone sets atime/mtime via utimensat(). Align fsnotify events with this stat behavior and do not generate ACCESS/MODIFY events to parent watchers on read/write of special files. The events are still generated to parent watchers on utimensat(). This closes some side-channels that could be possibly used for information exfiltration [1]. [1] https://snee.la/pdf/pubs/file-notification-attacks.pdf

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-68788 since 12/24/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. This vulnerability is assigned to T1592 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 298404 (Debian dsa-6127 : affs-modules-6.1.0-37-4kc-malta-di - security update), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.64, 6.18.3 or 6.19-rc2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 6a7d7d96eeeab7af2bd01afbb3d9878a11a13d91/e0643d46759db8b84c0504a676043e5e341b6c81/82f7416bcbd951549e758d15fc1a96a5afc2e900/7a93edb23bcf07a3aaf8b598edfc2faa8fbcc0b6/635bc4def026a24e071436f4f356ea08c0eed6ff is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (298404) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0086). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Affected

  • Debian Linux
  • Amazon Linux 2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Ubuntu Linux
  • SUSE Linux
  • Oracle Linux
  • SUSE openSUSE
  • RESF Rocky Linux
  • Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 3.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 3.4

VulDB Base Score: 3.5
VulDB Temp Score: 3.4
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Information disclosure
CWE: CWE-200 / CWE-284 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Nessus ID: 298404
Nessus Name: Debian dsa-6127 : affs-modules-6.1.0-37-4kc-malta-di - security update

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.1.160/6.6.120/6.12.64/6.18.3/6.19-rc2
Patch: 6a7d7d96eeeab7af2bd01afbb3d9878a11a13d91/e0643d46759db8b84c0504a676043e5e341b6c81/82f7416bcbd951549e758d15fc1a96a5afc2e900/7a93edb23bcf07a3aaf8b598edfc2faa8fbcc0b6/635bc4def026a24e071436f4f356ea08c0eed6ff

Timelineinfo

12/24/2025 CVE reserved
01/13/2026 +20 days Advisory disclosed
01/13/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
03/27/2026 +73 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-68788 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-68788
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-340674
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2026-0086 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 01/13/2026 17:47
Updated: 03/27/2026 04:17
Changes: 01/13/2026 17:47 (59), 02/10/2026 20:36 (2), 03/27/2026 04:17 (7)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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