UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68788: Medium severity ubuntu/linux vulnerability

Q: Who is exposed to this issue?

Local users who can watch a parent directory but lack read access to a special file within it may be able to observe read or write activity on that file through inotify or fanotify events. The described example is a user able to access a directory such as /dev while lacking permission to read a device file inside it.

Q: What must an attacker be able to do to exploit it?

An attacker needs local access and permission to subscribe to child events on the parent directory. They also need a target special file whose activity can be observed through ACCESS or MODIFY notifications.

Q: What information can be exposed?

The issue can reveal that a special file was read from or written to, creating a possible side channel for information exfiltration. The description does not indicate that file contents can be read or modified.

Q: How does the fix change notification behavior?

After the fix, parent-directory watchers no longer receive ACCESS or MODIFY events caused by reads or writes to special files. Events are still generated for parent watchers when timestamps are explicitly changed with utimensat().

Published Jan 13, 2026

Updated

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. INACCESS/INMODIFY), 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

Affected Software

242 affected componentsFixes available

ubuntu/linux*

ubuntu/linux-aws*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-lts-xenial*

ubuntu/linux*

ubuntu/linux-aws*

ubuntu/linux-aws-hwe*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-hwe*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-kvm*

ubuntu/linux-oracle*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux*

ubuntu/linux-aws*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-4.15*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-azure-edge*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-4.15*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-gke-4.15*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-hwe*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-ibm-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-kvm*

ubuntu/linux-oem*

ubuntu/linux-oracle*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-raspi-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*

ubuntu/linux*

ubuntu/linux-aws*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.15<5.15.0-1103.110~20.04.1

5.15.0-1103.110~20.04.1

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.15<5.15.0-1110.119~20.04.1

5.15.0-1110.119~20.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-bluefield*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.15<5.15.0-1103.112~20.04.1

5.15.0-1103.112~20.04.1

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.15<5.15.0-173.183~20.04.1

5.15.0-173.183~20.04.1

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-ibm*

ubuntu/linux-ibm-5.15<5.15.0-1097.100~20.04.1

5.15.0-1097.100~20.04.1

ubuntu/linux-intel-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg-5.15<5.15.0-1098.104~20.04.1

5.15.0-1098.104~20.04.1

ubuntu/linux-iot*

ubuntu/linux-kvm*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15<5.15.0-173.183~20.04.1

5.15.0-173.183~20.04.1

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15<5.15.0-1055.55~20.04.1

5.15.0-1055.55~20.04.1

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.10*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.6*

ubuntu/linux-oracle*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.15<5.15.0-1100.106~20.04.1

5.15.0-1100.106~20.04.1

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-raspi*

ubuntu/linux-raspi2*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.15<5.15.0-1097.101~20.04.1

5.15.0-1097.101~20.04.1

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-xilinx-zynqmp*

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*

ubuntu/linux<5.15.0-173.183

5.15.0-173.183

ubuntu/linux-allwinner-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws<5.15.0-1103.110

5.15.0-1103.110

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8<6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1

6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure<5.15.0-1109.118

5.15.0-1109.118

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8<6.8.0-1059.65~22.04.1

6.8.0-1059.65~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde<5.15.0-1109.118.1

5.15.0-1109.118.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8<6.8.0-1058.65~22.04.1

6.8.0-1058.65~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-gcp<5.15.0-1103.112

5.15.0-1103.112

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8<6.8.0-1054.57~22.04.1

6.8.0-1054.57~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-gke<5.15.0-1099.105

5.15.0-1099.105

ubuntu/linux-gkeop<5.15.0-1086.94

5.15.0-1086.94

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.8<6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1

6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-ibm<5.15.0-1097.100

5.15.0-1097.100

ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8<6.8.0-1051.51~22.04.1

6.8.0-1051.51~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg<5.15.0-1098.104

5.15.0-1098.104

ubuntu/linux-kvm<5.15.0-1095.100

5.15.0-1095.100

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency<5.15.0-173.183

5.15.0-173.183

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8<6.8.0-110.110.1~22.04.1

6.8.0-110.110.1~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-nvidia<5.15.0-1098.99

5.15.0-1098.99

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8<6.8.0-1051.54~22.04.1

6.8.0-1051.54~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra<5.15.0-1055.55

5.15.0-1055.55

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-igx<5.15.0-1044.44

5.15.0-1044.44

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.17*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.0*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.1*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle<5.15.0-1100.106

5.15.0-1100.106

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8<6.8.0-1049.50~22.04.1

6.8.0-1049.50~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-raspi<5.15.0-1097.100

5.15.0-1097.100

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8<6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1

6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-xilinx-zynqmp<5.15.0-1067.71

5.15.0-1067.71

ubuntu/linux-bluefield<5.15.0-1086.88

5.15.0-1086.88

ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime<5.15.0-1094.96

5.15.0-1094.96

ubuntu/linux-realtime<5.15.0-1102.111

5.15.0-1102.111

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8<6.8.1-1047.48~22.04.1

6.8.1-1047.48~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips<5.15.0-1103.110+fips1

5.15.0-1103.110+fips1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips<5.15.0-1109.118+fips1

5.15.0-1109.118+fips1

ubuntu/linux-fips<5.15.0-173.183+fips1

5.15.0-173.183+fips1

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips<5.15.0-1103.112+fips1

5.15.0-1103.112+fips1

ubuntu/linux<6.8.0-110.110

6.8.0-110.110

ubuntu/linux-aws<6.8.0-1052.55

6.8.0-1052.55

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17<6.17.0-1012.12~24.04.1

6.17.0-1012.12~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure<6.8.0-1054.60

6.8.0-1054.60

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17<6.17.0-1013.13~24.04.1

6.17.0-1013.13~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde<6.8.0-1058.65

6.8.0-1058.65

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia<6.8.0-1039.42

6.8.0-1039.42

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp<6.8.0-1054.57

6.8.0-1054.57

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.17<6.17.0-1012.12~24.04.1

6.17.0-1012.12~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-gke<6.8.0-1050.56

6.8.0-1050.56

ubuntu/linux-gkeop<6.8.0-1037.40

6.8.0-1037.40

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.17<6.17.0-22.22~24.04.1

6.17.0-22.22~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-ibm<6.8.0-1051.51

6.8.0-1051.51

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency<6.8.0-110.110.1

6.8.0-110.110.1

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia<6.8.0-1051.54

6.8.0-1051.54

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17<6.17.0-1018.18

6.17.0-1018.18

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency<6.8.0-1051.54.1

6.8.0-1051.54.1

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra<6.8.0-1022.22

6.8.0-1022.22

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17<6.17.0-1020.20

6.17.0-1020.20

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-oracle<6.8.0-1049.50

6.8.0-1049.50

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17<6.17.0-1011.11~24.04.1

6.17.0-1011.11~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-raspi<6.8.0-1052.56

6.8.0-1052.56

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.17<6.17.0-22.22.1~24.04.1

6.17.0-22.22.1~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-xilinx<6.8.0-1028.29

6.8.0-1028.29

ubuntu/linux-bluefield<6.8.0-1017.21

6.8.0-1017.21

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime<6.8.0-2042.43

6.8.0-2042.43

ubuntu/linux-realtime<6.8.1-1047.48

6.8.1-1047.48

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17<6.17.0-1010.11~24.04.1

6.17.0-1010.11~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips<6.8.0-1052.55+fips1

6.8.0-1052.55+fips1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips<6.8.0-1053.59+fips1

6.8.0-1053.59+fips1

ubuntu/linux-fips<6.8.0-110.110+fips2

6.8.0-110.110+fips2

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips<6.8.0-1054.57+fips1

6.8.0-1054.57+fips1

ubuntu/linux<6.17.0-22.22

6.17.0-22.22

ubuntu/linux-aws<6.17.0-1012.12

6.17.0-1012.12

ubuntu/linux-azure<6.17.0-1013.13

6.17.0-1013.13

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-gcp<6.17.0-1012.12

6.17.0-1012.12

ubuntu/linux-oracle<6.17.0-1011.11

6.17.0-1011.11

ubuntu/linux-raspi<6.17.0-1013.13

6.17.0-1013.13

ubuntu/linux-realtime<6.17.0-1010.11

6.17.0-1010.11

ubuntu/linux-riscv<6.17.0-22.22.1

6.17.0-22.22.1

ubuntu/linux-vmware*

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-5.15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1103.110~20.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-5.15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1110.119~20.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1103.112~20.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-173.183~20.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm-5.15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1097.100~20.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg-5.15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1098.104~20.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-173.183~20.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1055.55~20.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1100.106~20.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1097.101~20.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-173.183
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1103.110
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1109.118
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1059.65~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1109.118.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1058.65~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1103.112
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1054.57~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gke to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1099.105
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gkeop to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1086.94
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1097.100
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.51~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1098.104
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-kvm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1095.100
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-173.183
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110.1~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1098.99
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.54~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1055.55
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-igx to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1044.44
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1100.106
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.50~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1097.100
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-xilinx-zynqmp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1067.71
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-bluefield to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1086.88
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1094.96
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1102.111
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.1-1047.48~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1103.110+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1109.118+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-173.183+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.0-1103.112+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1012.12~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1054.60
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1013.13~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1058.65
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1039.42
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1054.57
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1012.12~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gke to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1050.56
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gkeop to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1037.40
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-22.22~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.51
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.54
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1018.18
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.54.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1022.22
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1020.20
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.50
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1011.11~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.56
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-22.22.1~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-xilinx to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1028.29
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-bluefield to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1017.21
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-2042.43
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.1-1047.48
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1010.11~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1053.59+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110+fips2
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1054.57+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-22.22
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1012.12
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1013.13
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1012.12
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1011.11
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1013.13
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1010.11
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-22.22.1

Event History

Jan 13, 2026

CVE Published

via OSV·04:15 PM

Data Sourced

via OSV·04:15 PM

DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is exposed to this issue?

Local users who can watch a parent directory but lack read access to a special file within it may be able to observe read or write activity on that file through inotify or fanotify events. The described example is a user able to access a directory such as /dev while lacking permission to read a device file inside it.

What must an attacker be able to do to exploit it?

An attacker needs local access and permission to subscribe to child events on the parent directory. They also need a target special file whose activity can be observed through ACCESS or MODIFY notifications.

What information can be exposed?

The issue can reveal that a special file was read from or written to, creating a possible side channel for information exfiltration. The description does not indicate that file contents can be read or modified.

How does the fix change notification behavior?

After the fix, parent-directory watchers no longer receive ACCESS or MODIFY events caused by reads or writes to special files. Events are still generated for parent watchers when timestamps are explicitly changed with utimensat().

UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68788: Medium severity ubuntu/linux vulnerability

Affected Software

Remediation

Event History

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is exposed to this issue?

What must an attacker be able to do to exploit it?

What information can be exposed?

How does the fix change notification behavior?

Company

Resources

Contact