CVE-2025-38498 do_change_type(): refuse to operate on unmounted/not ours mounts
A local attacker could modify propagation settings on mounts outside their namespace, potentially leading to privilege escalation.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-38498?
CVE-2025-38498 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 30 Jul 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
do_change_type(): refuse to operate on unmounted/not ours mounts
Ensure that propagation settings can only be changed for mounts located in the caller's mount namespace. This change aligns permission checking with the rest of mount(2).
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38498?
It affects 2 products.
Linux distribution packages (2)
kgraft-patch-SLE12-SP5_Update_71 SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 | All versions | 2-2.1 |
kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP3_Update_60 SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP3 | All versions | 2-150300.2.1 |
Products include Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38498?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.
Is CVE-2025-38498 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38498 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-38498, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38498, GHSA-5q28-72v3-hrw6, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38498, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38498, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38498 and 4 more.