CVE-2026-98991

Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: queue a mount only once for mount notifications mnt_notify_add() puts a mount on notify_list. It doesn't check whether the mount is on the list already. That's fine as long as every mount is queued at most once per namespace_sem hold. It isn't. propagate_umount() moves a surviving overmount off a stack of mounts that are going away and queues it as moved. shrink_submounts() and mark_mounts_for_expiry() call umount_tree() for several mounts under a single namespace_sem hold. So the second umount_tree() can take down exactly the mount the first one reparented, reparent it once more and so end up queueing it a second time. The second list_add_tail() cuts the mounts queued in between out of the list while the head still points at the last of them. notify_mnt_list() then only visits that one mount and the others are freed after the grace period with notify_list still pointing at them. Every later mount operation on the host walks freed memory: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __list_add_valid_or_report Read of size 8 at addr ffff8881003d57e0 by task notify_dq/162 __list_add_valid_or_report+0x15c/0x1a0 mnt_add_to_ns+0x322/0x890 attach_recursive_mnt.isra.0+0xf2a/0x1a00 path_mount+0x139c/0x1d40 This needs a mount with MNT_SHRINKABLE to bind from. That's what finish_automount() creates (submounts of NFS, AFS and CIFS and the tracefs mount below debugfs). Bind mounts inherit the flag. A mount namespace with a FAN_MARK_MNTNS mark does the rest and root in a user namespace can have both. Initialize to_notify in alloc_vfsmnt() and leave a mount alone that is queued already. mnt_notify() looks at the state the mount has when the list is drained so a single entry per mount is enough. The move event for a mount that is unmounted under the same hold is lost. That's fine. The detach is what matters.

Severity

HIGH

CVSS score

7.8 (v3.1)

Vulnerability status

Received

Source identifier

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Published

2026-10-23 13:17:21.137000

Last modified

2026-10-24 14:16:51.117000

View original CVE JSON

{
  "id": "CVE-2026-98991",
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
  "published": "2026-10-23T13:17:21.137",
  "lastModified": "2026-10-24T14:16:51.117",
  "vulnStatus": "Received",
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnamespace: queue a mount only once for mount notifications\n\nmnt_notify_add() puts a mount on notify_list. It doesn't check whether\nthe mount is on the list already. That's fine as long as every mount is\nqueued at most once per namespace_sem hold. It isn't.\n\npropagate_umount() moves a surviving overmount off a stack of mounts\nthat are going away and queues it as moved. shrink_submounts() and\nmark_mounts_for_expiry() call umount_tree() for several mounts under a\nsingle namespace_sem hold. So the second umount_tree() can take down\nexactly the mount the first one reparented, reparent it once more and so\nend up queueing it a second time.\n\nThe second list_add_tail() cuts the mounts queued in between out of the\nlist while the head still points at the last of them. notify_mnt_list()\nthen only visits that one mount and the others are freed after the grace\nperiod with notify_list still pointing at them. Every later mount\noperation on the host walks freed memory:\n\n  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __list_add_valid_or_report\n  Read of size 8 at addr ffff8881003d57e0 by task notify_dq/162\n   __list_add_valid_or_report+0x15c/0x1a0\n   mnt_add_to_ns+0x322/0x890\n   attach_recursive_mnt.isra.0+0xf2a/0x1a00\n   path_mount+0x139c/0x1d40\n\nThis needs a mount with MNT_SHRINKABLE to bind from. That's what\nfinish_automount() creates (submounts of NFS, AFS and CIFS and the\ntracefs mount below debugfs). Bind mounts inherit the flag. A mount\nnamespace with a FAN_MARK_MNTNS mark does the rest and root in a user\nnamespace can have both.\n\nInitialize to_notify in alloc_vfsmnt() and leave a mount alone that is\nqueued already. mnt_notify() looks at the state the mount has when the\nlist is drained so a single entry per mount is enough. The move event\nfor a mount that is unmounted under the same hold is lost. That's fine.\nThe detach is what matters."
    }
  ],
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "programFiles": [
            "fs/mount.h",
            "fs/namespace.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "bf630c40164162ba1d3933c2f5e3397d083e0948",
              "lessThan": "acbe9e4418e2ef7bef1a12e62e0e7d6145a15190",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "bf630c40164162ba1d3933c2f5e3397d083e0948",
              "lessThan": "702ff3fe499876e09c45558a05366d21a5bc41ab",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "bf630c40164162ba1d3933c2f5e3397d083e0948",
              "lessThan": "bd2feb7796b6585938a4241e7b7c4148a6f7b762",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "programFiles": [
            "fs/mount.h",
            "fs/namespace.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "6.15",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0",
              "lessThan": "6.15",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.18.57",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "7.2.11",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "7.3",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
              "status": "unaffected"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "type": "Secondary",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "3.1",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
          "baseScore": 7.8,
          "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
          "attackVector": "LOCAL",
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
        "impactScore": 5.9
      }
    ]
  },
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/702ff3fe499876e09c45558a05366d21a5bc41ab",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/acbe9e4418e2ef7bef1a12e62e0e7d6145a15190",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bd2feb7796b6585938a4241e7b7c4148a6f7b762",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    }
  ]
}