CVE-2025-38396
fs: export anon_inode_make_secure_inode() and fix secretmem LSM bypass
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 7.8 High
- Published
- Jul 25, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Reserved
- Apr 16, 2025
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
fs: export anon_inode_make_secure_inode() and fix secretmem LSM bypass
Export anon_inode_make_secure_inode() to allow KVM guest_memfd to create anonymous inodes with proper security context. This replaces the current pattern of calling alloc_anon_inode() followed by inode_init_security_anon() for creating security context manually.
This change also fixes a security regression in secretmem where the S_PRIVATE flag was not cleared after alloc_anon_inode(), causing LSM/SELinux checks to be bypassed for secretmem file descriptors.
As guest_memfd currently resides in the KVM module, we need to export this symbol for use outside the core kernel. In the future, guest_memfd might be moved to core-mm, at which point the symbols no longer would have to be exported. When/if that happens is still unclear.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 7.8 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | Linux |
Weaknesses
The record names no weakness.
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
LinuxLinux |
|
LinuxLinux |
|
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/66d29d757c968d2bee9124816da5d718eb352959
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e3eed01347721cd7a8819568161c91d538fbf229
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f94c422157f3e43dd31990567b3e5d54b3e5b32b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6ca45ea48530332a4ba09595767bd26d3232743b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cbe4134ea4bc493239786220bd69cb8a13493190
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html
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