diff --git a/src/wp-includes/default-filters.php b/src/wp-includes/default-filters.php
index 025a371781200..7fa12c8802a8f 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/default-filters.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/default-filters.php
@@ -696,6 +696,7 @@
 add_action( 'customize_controls_enqueue_scripts', 'wp_plupload_default_settings' );
 add_action( 'plugins_loaded', '_wp_add_additional_image_sizes', 0 );
 add_filter( 'plupload_default_settings', 'wp_show_heic_upload_error' );
+add_action( 'delete_attachment', '_wp_delete_edit_root_attachment_id' );
 
 // Client-side media processing.
 add_action( 'admin_init', 'wp_set_client_side_media_processing_flag' );
diff --git a/src/wp-includes/post.php b/src/wp-includes/post.php
index aeea4e5bafac2..f2806246b6999 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/post.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/post.php
@@ -8826,6 +8826,63 @@ function wp_get_original_image_url( $attachment_id ) {
 	return apply_filters( 'wp_get_original_image_url', $original_image_url, $attachment_id );
 }
 
+/**
+ * Retrieves the edit root of an attachment: the attachment its chain of edits started from.
+ *
+ * Editing an image through the `wp/v2/media/<id>/edit` REST endpoint does not change the
+ * image that was edited. It saves the result as a brand new attachment, so a site can end
+ * up with a chain of attachments: an upload, a crop of it, a crop of that crop, and so on.
+ *
+ * Every attachment created that way stores the ID of the attachment at the top of its chain,
+ * so this function can find the edit root in one lookup no matter how long the chain is.
+ *
+ * Attachments that were uploaded rather than created by editing have no chain of their own,
+ * and this returns the ID that was passed in. To tell the two cases apart, compare the
+ * result against that ID.
+ *
+ * @since 7.2.0
+ *
+ * @param int $attachment_id Attachment ID.
+ * @return int ID of the attachment the chain of edits started from, or `$attachment_id`
+ *             if none is recorded.
+ */
+function wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $attachment_id ) {
+	$edit_root_id = (int) get_post_meta( $attachment_id, '_wp_attachment_edit_root_id', true );
+
+	return $edit_root_id > 0 ? $edit_root_id : (int) $attachment_id;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Clears the recorded edit root ID from any attachment pointing at a deleted one.
+ *
+ * Without this, attachments created by editing the deleted image would keep pointing at an
+ * ID that no longer exists, and could later point at an unrelated attachment if WordPress
+ * reuses that ID.
+ *
+ * This only runs when an attachment is deleted for good. On sites where media goes to the
+ * trash first, attachments keep pointing at the trashed edit root until the trash is emptied.
+ *
+ * @since 7.2.0
+ *
+ * @access private
+ *
+ * @param int $post_id Attachment ID being deleted.
+ */
+function _wp_delete_edit_root_attachment_id( $post_id ) {
+	$post_id = (int) $post_id;
+
+	if ( $post_id <= 0 ) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Deletes the meta from every attachment recording this ID as its edit root. The meta key
+	 * is indexed, so this only scans the rows for attachments created by editing an image,
+	 * and it avoids searching the serialized attachment metadata for the ID.
+	 */
+	delete_metadata( 'post', 0, '_wp_attachment_edit_root_id', $post_id, true );
+}
+
 /**
  * Filters callback which sets the status of an untrashed post to its previous status.
  *
diff --git a/src/wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-attachments-controller.php b/src/wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-attachments-controller.php
index 9807ac9cf15b5..e275a3ecf20e7 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-attachments-controller.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-attachments-controller.php
@@ -1356,6 +1356,18 @@ public function edit_media_item( $request ) {
 			'file'          => _wp_relative_upload_path( $image_file ),
 		);
 
+		/*
+		 * Record the attachment this chain of edits started from, so the edit root can be
+		 * found in one lookup from any image later in the chain. The new attachment inherits
+		 * the edit root recorded on the image being edited, or that image itself when it was
+		 * uploaded rather than edited.
+		 */
+		update_post_meta(
+			$new_attachment_id,
+			'_wp_attachment_edit_root_id',
+			wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $attachment_id )
+		);
+
 		/**
 		 * Filters the meta data for the new image created by editing an existing image.
 		 *
@@ -1509,6 +1521,17 @@ public function prepare_item_for_response( $item, $request ) {
 			$data['post'] = ! empty( $post->post_parent ) ? (int) $post->post_parent : null;
 		}
 
+		/*
+		 * ID of the attachment this image's chain of edits started from, or 0.
+		 * Edit context only, since only editors need it.
+		 * Not validated: deleting an attachment clears it from images edited from it.
+		 */
+		if ( in_array( 'edit_root', $fields, true ) && 'edit' === $request['context'] ) {
+			$edit_root_id = wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $post->ID );
+
+			$data['edit_root'] = $edit_root_id !== (int) $post->ID ? $edit_root_id : 0;
+		}
+
 		if ( in_array( 'source_url', $fields, true ) ) {
 			$data['source_url'] = wp_get_attachment_url( $post->ID );
 		}
@@ -1667,6 +1690,20 @@ public function prepare_item_for_response( $item, $request ) {
 			}
 		}
 
+		/*
+		 * Let clients fetch the edit root in the same request with `_embed`,
+		 * the way `featured_media` is paired with its own link. Added here rather than in
+		 * `prepare_links()` because that method cannot see the request, and this belongs
+		 * in the `edit` context only, alongside the field itself.
+		 */
+		if ( ! empty( $data['edit_root'] ) ) {
+			$response->add_link(
+				'https://api.w.org/edit-root',
+				rest_url( rest_get_route_for_post( $data['edit_root'] ) ),
+				array( 'embeddable' => true )
+			);
+		}
+
 		/**
 		 * Filters an attachment returned from the REST API.
 		 *
@@ -1805,6 +1842,13 @@ public function get_item_schema() {
 			'context'     => array( 'view', 'edit' ),
 		);
 
+		$schema['properties']['edit_root'] = array(
+			'description' => __( 'The ID of the attachment this attachment\'s chain of edits started from, or 0 if none is recorded.' ),
+			'type'        => 'integer',
+			'context'     => array( 'edit' ),
+			'readonly'    => true,
+		);
+
 		$schema['properties']['source_url'] = array(
 			'description' => __( 'URL to the original attachment file.' ),
 			'type'        => 'string',
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/rest-attachments-controller.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/rest-attachments-controller.php
index 282c0f6b95e22..d12e63cf025bf 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/rest-attachments-controller.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/rest-attachments-controller.php
@@ -2072,13 +2072,14 @@ public function test_get_item_schema() {
 		$response   = rest_get_server()->dispatch( $request );
 		$data       = $response->get_data();
 		$properties = $data['schema']['properties'];
-		$this->assertCount( 35, $properties );
+		$this->assertCount( 36, $properties );
 		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'author', $properties );
 		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'alt_text', $properties );
 		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'exif_orientation', $properties );
 		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'image_quality', $properties );
 		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'image_output_format', $properties );
 		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'image_save_progressive', $properties );
+		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'edit_root', $properties );
 		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'filename', $properties );
 		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'filesize', $properties );
 		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'caption', $properties );
@@ -6261,4 +6262,338 @@ public function test_url_arg_rejects_unsafe_urls() {
 			$this->assertSame( 400, $result->get_error_data()['status'] );
 		}
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Edits an image and returns the ID of the attachment the edit created.
+	 *
+	 * @param int $attachment_id Attachment to edit.
+	 * @return int New attachment ID.
+	 */
+	private function edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment_id ) {
+		$request = new WP_REST_Request( 'POST', "/wp/v2/media/{$attachment_id}/edit" );
+		$request->set_body_params(
+			array(
+				'rotation' => 60,
+				'src'      => wp_get_attachment_image_url( $attachment_id, 'full' ),
+			)
+		);
+
+		$response = rest_do_request( $request );
+		$this->assertSame( 201, $response->get_status(), 'The image edit should have succeeded.' );
+
+		$data = $response->get_data();
+
+		return $data['id'];
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 */
+	public function test_edit_root_schema() {
+		$request  = new WP_REST_Request( 'OPTIONS', '/wp/v2/media' );
+		$response = rest_get_server()->dispatch( $request );
+		$schema   = $response->get_data()['schema']['properties']['edit_root'];
+
+		$this->assertSame( 'integer', $schema['type'] );
+		$this->assertSame( array( 'edit' ), $schema['context'] );
+		$this->assertTrue( $schema['readonly'] );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 */
+	public function test_get_edit_root_attachment_id_returns_same_id_for_an_upload() {
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+
+		$this->assertSame( $attachment, wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $attachment ) );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_edit_records_the_edited_image_as_the_edit_root() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+
+		$edited = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+
+		$this->assertSame( $attachment, wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $edited ) );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_editing_an_edited_image_keeps_the_first_edit_root() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+
+		$edited       = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+		$edited_again = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $edited );
+
+		$this->assertSame(
+			$attachment,
+			wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $edited_again ),
+			'An edit of an edit should still point at the image the chain started from.'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_edited_image_response_includes_the_edit_root() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+
+		$edited = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+
+		$request = new WP_REST_Request( 'GET', "/wp/v2/media/{$edited}" );
+		$request->set_param( 'context', 'edit' );
+		$data = rest_do_request( $request )->get_data();
+
+		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'edit_root', $data );
+		$this->assertSame( $attachment, $data['edit_root'] );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * The response carries only the ID, so the edit root is offered as an embeddable
+	 * link in the same way as a featured image.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_edit_root_is_embeddable() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+
+		$edited = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+
+		$request = new WP_REST_Request( 'GET', "/wp/v2/media/{$edited}" );
+		$request->set_param( 'context', 'edit' );
+		$response = rest_do_request( $request );
+
+		$links = $response->get_links();
+		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'https://api.w.org/edit-root', $links );
+		$this->assertCount(
+			1,
+			$links['https://api.w.org/edit-root'],
+			'The link should be added once.'
+		);
+
+		$link = $links['https://api.w.org/edit-root'][0];
+		$this->assertStringEndsWith( '/wp/v2/media/' . $attachment, $link['href'] );
+		$this->assertTrue( $link['attributes']['embeddable'] );
+
+		// Requesting `_embed` hydrates the edit root alongside the edited image.
+		$embedded = rest_get_server()->response_to_data( $response, true );
+		$this->assertSame(
+			$attachment,
+			$embedded['_embedded']['wp:edit-root'][0]['id']
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_view_context_omits_the_edit_root_link() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+
+		$edited = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+
+		$request = new WP_REST_Request( 'GET', "/wp/v2/media/{$edited}" );
+		$request->set_param( 'context', 'view' );
+		$links = rest_do_request( $request )->get_links();
+
+		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey( 'https://api.w.org/edit-root', $links );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 */
+	public function test_uploaded_image_reports_no_edit_root() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+
+		$request = new WP_REST_Request( 'GET', "/wp/v2/media/{$attachment}" );
+		$request->set_param( 'context', 'edit' );
+		$response = rest_do_request( $request );
+
+		$this->assertSame( 0, $response->get_data()['edit_root'] );
+		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey(
+			'https://api.w.org/edit-root',
+			$response->get_links(),
+			'An image with no edit root should carry no link.'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_view_context_omits_the_edit_root() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+
+		$edited = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+
+		$request = new WP_REST_Request( 'GET', "/wp/v2/media/{$edited}" );
+		$request->set_param( 'context', 'view' );
+		$data = rest_do_request( $request )->get_data();
+
+		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey( 'edit_root', $data );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_edit_root_can_be_requested_on_its_own() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+
+		$edited = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+
+		$request = new WP_REST_Request( 'GET', "/wp/v2/media/{$edited}" );
+		$request->set_param( 'context', 'edit' );
+		$request->set_param( '_fields', 'id,edit_root' );
+		$data = rest_do_request( $request )->get_data();
+
+		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'edit_root', $data );
+		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey( 'media_details', $data, 'Only the requested fields should be returned.' );
+		$this->assertSame( $attachment, $data['edit_root'] );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * An attachment recorded as its own edit root is a broken record, not a chain,
+	 * so it reports no edit root.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 */
+	public function test_attachment_recorded_as_its_own_edit_root_reports_none() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+
+		update_post_meta( $attachment, '_wp_attachment_edit_root_id', $attachment );
+
+		$request = new WP_REST_Request( 'GET', "/wp/v2/media/{$attachment}" );
+		$request->set_param( 'context', 'edit' );
+		$data = rest_do_request( $request )->get_data();
+
+		$this->assertSame( 0, $data['edit_root'] );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Trashing is not deleting. `delete_attachment` does not fire for a trashed
+	 * attachment, and the record is deliberately left in place so that untrashing
+	 * the edit root restores the relationship intact.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_trashing_an_edit_root_keeps_the_record_on_the_images_edited_from_it() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+		$edited     = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+
+		wp_trash_post( $attachment );
+
+		$this->assertSame(
+			'trash',
+			get_post_status( $attachment ),
+			'The edit root should have been trashed rather than deleted.'
+		);
+		$this->assertSame(
+			$attachment,
+			wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $edited ),
+			'Trashing the edit root should leave the record in place.'
+		);
+
+		wp_untrash_post( $attachment );
+
+		$this->assertSame(
+			$attachment,
+			wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $edited ),
+			'Untrashing the edit root should leave the relationship intact.'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Once the edit root is gone its record is cleared, so a further edit has no
+	 * lineage to inherit and starts a new chain from the image being edited.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_editing_again_after_the_edit_root_is_deleted_starts_a_new_chain() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+		$edited     = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+
+		wp_delete_attachment( $attachment, true );
+
+		$edited_again = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $edited );
+
+		$this->assertSame(
+			$edited,
+			wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $edited_again ),
+			'The new image should point at the image it was edited from.'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Deleting an image from the middle of a chain does not orphan the images
+	 * edited from it, because every image records the start of the chain rather
+	 * than the image directly above it.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_deleting_a_middle_image_leaves_the_rest_of_the_chain_intact() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+
+		$attachment   = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+		$edited       = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+		$edited_again = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $edited );
+
+		wp_delete_attachment( $edited, true );
+
+		$this->assertSame(
+			$attachment,
+			wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $edited_again ),
+			'The remaining image should still point at the start of the chain.'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 65987
+	 * @requires function imagejpeg
+	 */
+	public function test_deleting_an_edit_root_clears_it_from_the_images_edited_from_it() {
+		wp_set_current_user( self::$superadmin_id );
+
+		$attachment = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+		$edited     = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $attachment );
+
+		$unrelated        = self::factory()->attachment->create_upload_object( self::$test_file );
+		$unrelated_edited = $this->edit_image_and_get_new_id( $unrelated );
+
+		wp_delete_attachment( $attachment, true );
+
+		$this->assertSame(
+			'',
+			get_post_meta( $edited, '_wp_attachment_edit_root_id', true ),
+			'The record pointing at the deleted attachment should have been cleared.'
+		);
+		$this->assertSame(
+			$unrelated,
+			wp_get_edit_root_attachment_id( $unrelated_edited ),
+			'An unrelated image should have kept its record.'
+		);
+	}
 }