CVE-2026-98990 - In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: check a submount for references right be
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
namespace: check a submount for references right before unmounting it
shrink_submounts() and mark_mounts_for_expiry() first collect all the
mounts they are allowed to unmount and then unmount them.
Whether a mount is busy is decided by propagate_mount_busy() on the
tree. But unmounting the first mount changes the tree that the second
one propagates into. propagate_umount()
moves a surviving overmount off a copy it unmounts and mounts it where
the copy was mounted. If that's where the propagated copy of the second
victim is looked up the overmount becomes a candidate of the second
umount_tree(). It's childless and so trim_one() commits it without
looking at its reference count.
So a synchronous umount pulls out a busy mount that is in use somewhere
else and marks it MNT_SYNC_UMOUNT while it has users:
umount2(/tmp/plshrink/p1, 0) = 0 errno 0
cwd is (unreachable)
The same two umounts requested one after the other fail with EBUSY.
This needs a mount with MNT_SHRINKABLE, i.e., automounted submounts of
NFS, AFS and CIFS or the tracefs mount below debugfs. Bind mounts
inherit the flag.
Check each mount right before it is unmounted under the same hold of
namespace_sem and mount_lock as the umount itself. Make sure that the
algorithm stays linear.
INFORMATIONAL
Severity & confidence
Source severityinformational
Platform severityinformational
Confidencehigh
Exploitationunknown
CVSS-
Affected
Vendorslinux
Reporting sources (1)
NIST NVD - National Vulnerability Database
Timeline & provenance
Published2026-10-23T13:17:20
Last updated2026-10-26T06:31:48
Ingested2026-10-25T15:19:16
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