ksmbd: fix mechToken leak when SPNEGO decode fails after token alloc
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-401.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: fix mechToken leak when SPNEGO decode fails after token alloc The kernel ASN.1 BER decoder calls action callbacks incrementally as it walks the input. When ksmbd_decode_negTokenInit() reaches the mechToken [2] OCTET STRING element, ksmbd_neg_token_alloc() allocates conn->mechToken immediately via kmemdup_nul(). If a later element in the same blob is malformed, then the decoder will return nonzero after the allocation is already live. This could happen if mechListMIC [3] overrunse the enclosing SEQUENCE. decode_negotiation_token() then sets conn->use_spnego = false because both the negTokenInit and negTokenTarg grammars failed. The cleanup at the bottom of smb2_sess_setup() is gated on use_spnego: if (conn->use_spnego && conn->mechToken) { kfree(conn->mechToken); conn->mechToken = NULL; } so the kfree is skipped, causing the mechToken to never be freed. This codepath is reachable pre-authentication, so untrusted clients can cause slow memory leaks on a server without even being properly authenticated. Fix this up by not checking check for use_spnego, as it's not required, so the memory will always be properly freed. At the same time, always free the memory in ksmbd_conn_free() incase some other failure path forgot to free it.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.15 and later | 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.136, 6.12.83, 6.18.24, 6.19.14, 7.0.1, 7.1 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.15 and later Fixed in 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.136, 6.12.83, 6.18.24, 6.19.14, 7.0.1, 7.1 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.15 to before 6.6.136; 6.7 to before 6.12.83; 6.13 to before 6.18.24; 6.19 to before 6.19.14; 7.0 to before 7.0.1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.15 to before 6.6.136; 6.7 to before 6.12.83; 6.13 to before 6.18.24; 6.19 to before 6.19.14; 7.0 to before 7.0.1 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.136, 6.12.83, 6.18.24, 6.19.14, 7.0.1, 7.1
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-31610
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-g5hw-v48q-45pv
References
Patch 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/745a535461bbb90a56d9357573c9f97a5c12abe1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd577cb55588ec3fbc66af3621280306601c4192
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd53414e301beb915fe672dc4c4a51bafb917604
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/269c800a7a7e363459291885b35f7bc72e231ed6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6c8c44e6553b9f072f62d9875e567766eb293162
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad0057fb91218914d6c98268718ceb9d59b388e1
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Sources
- CVE-2026-31610 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-31610 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-g5hw-v48q-45pv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-31610 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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