# CVE-2025-40355: sysfs: check visibility before changing group attribute ownership

> A local attacker with high privileges can trigger a kernel warning and potential crash by changing network namespace attributes that are not visible.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-72487, BELL-CVE-2025-40355, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40355, GHSA-69f6-7cp5-89jr, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-40355, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-40355, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-40355, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-40355, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-40355, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-40355

## What is CVE-2025-40355?

CVE-2025-40355 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 Dec 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:

sysfs: check visibility before changing group attribute ownership

Since commit 0c17270f9b92 ("net: sysfs: Implement is_visible for
phys_(port_id, port_name, switch_id)"), __dev_change_net_namespace() can
hit WARN_ON() when trying to change owner of a file that isn't visible.
See the trace below:

 WARNING: CPU: 6 PID: 2938 at net/core/dev.c:12410 __dev_change_net_namespace+0xb89/0xc30
 CPU: 6 UID: 0 PID: 2938 Comm: incusd Not tainted 6.17.1-1-mainline #1 PREEMPT(full)  4b783b4a638669fb644857f484487d17cb45ed1f
 Hardware name: Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040Series)/FRANMDCP07, BIOS 03.07 02/19/2025
 RIP: 0010:__dev_change_net_namespace+0xb89/0xc30
 [...]
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  ? if6_seq_show+0x30/0x50
  do_setlink.isra.0+0xc7/0x1270
  ? __nla_validate_parse+0x5c/0xcc0
  ? security_capable+0x94/0x1a0
  rtnl_newlink+0x858/0xc20
  ? update_curr+0x8e/0x1c0
  ? update_entity_lag+0x71/0x80
  ? sched_balance_newidle+0x358/0x450
  ? psi_task_switch+0x113/0x2a0
  ? __pfx_rtnl_newlink+0x10/0x10
  rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x346/0x3e0
  ? sched_clock+0x10/0x30
  ? __pfx_rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x10/0x10
  netlink_rcv_skb+0x59/0x110
  netlink_unicast+0x285/0x3c0
  ? __alloc_skb+0xdb/0x1a0
  netlink_sendmsg+0x20d/0x430
  ____sys_sendmsg+0x39f/0x3d0
  ? import_iovec+0x2f/0x40
  ___sys_sendmsg+0x99/0xe0
  __sys_sendmsg+0x8a/0xf0
  do_syscall_64+0x81/0x970
  ? __sys_bind+0xe3/0x110
  ? syscall_exit_work+0x143/0x1b0
  ? do_syscall_64+0x244/0x970
  ? sock_alloc_file+0x63/0xc0
  ? syscall_exit_work+0x143/0x1b0
  ? do_syscall_64+0x244/0x970
  ? alloc_fd+0x12e/0x190
  ? put_unused_fd+0x2a/0x70
  ? do_sys_openat2+0xa2/0xe0
  ? syscall_exit_work+0x143/0x1b0
  ? do_syscall_64+0x244/0x970
  ? exc_page_fault+0x7e/0x1a0
  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e
 [...]
  </TASK>

Fix this by checking is_visible() before trying to touch the attribute.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-40355?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-40355?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-40355 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-40355 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-40355 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-40355 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 Dec 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-40355 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40355/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40355/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-40355
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-40355
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-40355

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40355/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.