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TI-2026-79784 Aliases CVE-2026-98991GHSA-4qhh-mf87-xrfm

Use-after-free in Linux kernel mount notification queue

Priority LOW 33Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 1 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

The Linux kernel mount notification code (mnt_notify_add) can queue the same mount twice during one namespace hold, which corrupts the notify list. Affected are Linux kernels from 6.15 before the fixed releases named below. A local user with low privileges can exploit this to access freed memory, with high impact to confidentiality, integrity and availability. Exploitation is not reported.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06

Description from the CNA

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.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00157 4th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.18.57, 7.2.11, 7.3Red Hat: 1 without a fix

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux6.15 and later6.18.57, 7.2.11, 7.3Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.15 and later Fixed in 6.18.57, 7.2.11, 7.3 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Linux

Remediation

Update the Linux kernel to 6.18.57, 7.2.11 or 7.3, depending on the release branch. The sources list no fixed version for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.18.57, 7.2.11, 7.3

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Not affected: 6 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-23 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98991
  2. 2026-10-23 Alias added: GHSA-4qhh-mf87-xrfm
  3. 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · CNA
  4. 2026-10-24 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
  5. 2026-10-24 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
  6. 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  7. 2026-10-29 CVSS score added · Red Hat
  8. 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

References

  • TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
See all 21727 →

Sources