Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2025-38431

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: fix regression with native SMB symlinks Some users and customers reported that their backup/copy tools started to fail when the directory being copied contained symlink targets that the client couldn't parse - even when those symlinks weren't followed. Fix this by allowing lstat(2) and readlink(2) to succeed even when the client can't resolve the symlink target, restoring old behavior.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.001 (2.8th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 3rd percentile — 2.8% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-38431: held from 0.001 to 0.001.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: -0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 12b466eb52d926802b6898d2cb7e67386467f54a, 6.14, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.16

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38431?
CVE-2025-38431 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-07-25.
How severe is CVE-2025-38431?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.