CVE-2025-38466: 
Linux Kernel vulnerability analysis and mitigation

A recently discovered vulnerability in the Linux kernel (CVE-2025-38466) involves the perf subsystem's handling of uprobes. The vulnerability was disclosed on July 25, 2025, and affects the Linux kernel's performance monitoring capabilities (NVD).

The vulnerability stems from how uprobes can be used destructively when placed in the middle of an instruction. The kernel only verifies the presence of a valid instruction at the requested offset but cannot determine if this is an instruction as seen by the intended execution stream due to variable instruction length. Additionally, on architectures that mix data in the text segment (like arm64), data words can be mistakenly interpreted as instructions, leading to potential security issues (NVD).

The vulnerability affects the Linux kernel's security model by potentially allowing unauthorized access to system monitoring capabilities. This could lead to system instability or potential security breaches when uprobes are misused (NVD).

The vulnerability has been addressed by reverting to requiring CAPSYSADMIN privileges for uprobes usage. This change ensures that only privileged users with administrative capabilities can utilize uprobes, significantly reducing the potential attack surface (NVD).