---
id: CVE-2025-68788
title: 'fsnotify: do not generate ACCESS/MODIFY events on child for special files'
summary: |-
  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…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc <
    df2711544b050aba703e6da418c53c7dc5d443ca
  - >-
    Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc <
    859bdf438f01d9aa7f84b09c1202d548c7cad9e8
  - >-
    Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc <
    6a7d7d96eeeab7af2bd01afbb3d9878a11a13d91
  - >-
    Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc <
    e0643d46759db8b84c0504a676043e5e341b6c81
  - >-
    Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc <
    82f7416bcbd951549e758d15fc1a96a5afc2e900
  - >-
    Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc <
    7a93edb23bcf07a3aaf8b598edfc2faa8fbcc0b6
  - >-
    Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc <
    635bc4def026a24e071436f4f356ea08c0eed6ff
  - Linux 2.6.36
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-06-16T16:22:25.274360Z'
published: '2026-01-13'
updated: '2026-09-08'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-08T08:43:30.378Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68788'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/df2711544b050aba703e6da418c53c7dc5d443ca'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/859bdf438f01d9aa7f84b09c1202d548c7cad9e8'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a7d7d96eeeab7af2bd01afbb3d9878a11a13d91'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e0643d46759db8b84c0504a676043e5e341b6c81'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/82f7416bcbd951549e758d15fc1a96a5afc2e900'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a93edb23bcf07a3aaf8b598edfc2faa8fbcc0b6'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/635bc4def026a24e071436f4f356ea08c0eed6ff'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00208
epssPercentile: 0.09664
ingestedAt: '2026-09-08T15:33:26.995Z'
---

## Overview

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. IN_ACCESS/IN_MODIFY), 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

- `Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc < df2711544b050aba703e6da418c53c7dc5d443ca`
- `Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc < 859bdf438f01d9aa7f84b09c1202d548c7cad9e8`
- `Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc < 6a7d7d96eeeab7af2bd01afbb3d9878a11a13d91`
- `Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc < e0643d46759db8b84c0504a676043e5e341b6c81`
- `Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc < 82f7416bcbd951549e758d15fc1a96a5afc2e900`
- `Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc < 7a93edb23bcf07a3aaf8b598edfc2faa8fbcc0b6`
- `Linux >= 72acc854427948efed7a83da27f7dc3239ac9afc < 635bc4def026a24e071436f4f356ea08c0eed6ff`
- `Linux 2.6.36`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.