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CVE-2026-98982

Linux: namespace: don't let a pseudo dentry become the root of a mount

Linux LinuxOperating systems
CVSS
NoneNot scored
ExploitationNo known exploitationNot in CISA KEV, which does not prove it is unexploitedCISA KEV
Exploit odds (EPSS)No scoreNo FIRST EPSS score in this snapshot yet
Fixed in7e1c466011ba9e64d43075396badc03191bcee44Also 00287afa7cd989efdbf5822b7efac33cce7d489aCVE List
Published23 Oct 2026Updated 23 Oct 2026CVE List

What fixes it

  • 7e1c466011ba9e64d43075396badc03191bcee44LinuxCVE List
  • 00287afa7cd989efdbf5822b7efac33cce7d489aLinuxCVE List

A fixed version on one release line is not the upgrade target for every line. Check your exact version and any vendor backports.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

namespace: don't let a pseudo dentry become the root of a mount

d_alloc_pseudo() hands out dentries for pipes, sockets and other files that are never anyone's child or parent. They carry DCACHE_NORCU and dentry_free() frees them right away because no lockless path walk can ever reach them. That holds as long as such a dentry isn't the root of a mount. But bind mounting /proc/self/fd/<fd> of such a file does exactly that.

Most callers of alloc_file_pseudo() put their files on kernel-internal mounts and may_copy_tree() refuses those. bpf_token_create() doesn't. It places the token file on the bpffs mount the caller handed it and that mount is in the caller's mount namespace so the clone goes through:

mount --bind /proc/self/fd/<token> <file> open_tree(tokfd, "", AT_EMPTY_PATH | OPEN_TREE_CLONE) + move_mount()

__follow_mount_rcu() then loads ->mnt_root of that mount, reads d_seq and d_flags of the dentry and only then checks mount_lock. The dentry can be gone by then. The final mntput() of an unmounted parent unhooks a child that stayed attached to it under mount_lock alone. When the child's holder does the final put right after that the root is dput() and freed immediately while a walker that found the mount hashed still looks at it.

Refuse to clone a mount with a DCACHE_NORCU dentry as its root. Nothing sensible can be done with a bind mount of a bpf token anyway.

Text from CVE List

Affected versions 10

  • Linuxaffected: 35f96de04127d332a5c5e8a155d31f452f88c76d before a256e31e0c54c4c37d2523aa52faabdcdd2ebc07CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 35f96de04127d332a5c5e8a155d31f452f88c76d before 7e1c466011ba9e64d43075396badc03191bcee44CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 35f96de04127d332a5c5e8a155d31f452f88c76d before 00287afa7cd989efdbf5822b7efac33cce7d489aCVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 35f96de04127d332a5c5e8a155d31f452f88c76d before b138e16fb1e81376cea89f727dda7bfccd140de4CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 6.9CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: all versions before 6.9CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 6.12.113 through 6.12.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 6.18.57 through 6.18.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 7.2.11 through 7.2.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 7.3CVE List

References 4