Linux kernel SMB client accepts short SESSION_SETUP responses
Key facts
- Attack vector
- —
- Privileges required
- —
- User interaction
- —
- Attack complexity
- —
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- —
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel from 3.6 is affected by a flaw in its SMB client. The client accepts short SESSION_SETUP responses with a nonzero status and reads their length fields from stale bytes left in a reused receive buffer. A malicious SMB server can make the client copy up to about 64 KB of kernel memory and send it back to the server.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-08
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: reject short SESSION_SETUP responses smb2_check_message() accepts frames shorter than struct smb2_pdu when the SMB2 status is non-zero, before the minimum-PDU check added by b4694f269e66d. A 64-byte STATUS_MORE_PROCESSING_REQUIRED SESSION_SETUP response is therefore accepted even though it cannot contain the SecurityBufferOffset and SecurityBufferLength fields. The parser then reads those fields from stale bytes left in the reused receive buffer by an earlier frame. With a long stale SecurityBufferLength, decode_ntlmssp_challenge() copies up to about 64 KB from beyond the receive object and sends the data back to the server in the NTLMv2 AUTHENTICATE target info. Reject short MPR SESSION_SETUP responses before the short-error path, and validate SecurityBufferOffset + SecurityBufferLength against the received response length before decoding the challenge. The ordering bypass is not new: the short-error early return predates b4694f269e66d, and the unvalidated SecurityBufferLength read predates the 2016 raw NTLMSSP split in 166cea4dc3a4, so all supported stable trees are affected. Reproduced on 6.6.87.2; the path is unchanged on mainline.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Linux kernel 7.3.2 and 7.4-rc1 include the fix. Red Hat reports no available plan for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, 9 and 10 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-08
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 7.3.2, 7.4-rc1
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-11-07 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-99275
- 2026-11-07 Alias added: GHSA-w3q4-mjfj-h6cq
- 2026-11-08 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-08 CVSS score added · Red Hat
References
More Linux vulnerabilities
- 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
Sources
- CVE-2026-99275 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-99275 · NVD
- GHSA-w3q4-mjfj-h6cq · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-99275 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences