CVE-2026-98982 - In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: don't let a pseudo dentry become the roo
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.
HIGH
Severity & confidence
Source severityhigh
Platform severityhigh
Confidencehigh
Exploitationunknown
CVSS7.8
Affected
Vendorslinux
Reporting sources (1)
NIST NVD - National Vulnerability Database
Timeline & provenance
Published2026-10-23T13:17:20
Last updated2026-10-26T06:31:48
Ingested2026-10-25T14:28:15
FreshnessNEAR-REAL-TIME
Threat typevulnerability
Recommended action
No recommended action published with this item - review the original source.
Next steps
- Identify affected systems in your environment.
- Apply the vendor patch or mitigation guidance.
- Review logs for indicators described in the advisory.
- Follow the affected vendor/product to track updates.
Confidence explanation
Reported by a government or cert-grade source (CISA, NCSC, NVD, ENISA, MSRC).
Source type: standards ยท Original: NIST NVD - National Vulnerability Database