Race Condition Vulnerability in Linux Kernel Affecting Process Privilege Management

CVE-2025-40341

What is CVE-2025-40341?

A race condition in the Linux kernel’s handling of the robust_list pointer may lead to unauthorized access to sensitive information during privilege transitions. Specifically, during the execution of a setuid binary, an unprivileged process may allow an attacker to access its robust_list before it transitions to a privileged state. The issue arises when the permissions check via ptrace_may_access() occurs just before a task executes the privileged binary, permitting potential exploitation of sensitive memory addresses. This vulnerability compromises intended access restrictions and enhances the risk of information disclosure across privilege boundaries. Implementing a read lock on signal->exec_update_lock ensures synchronization, mitigating the vulnerability.

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