CVE-2026-74343 (GCVE-0-2026-74343)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-08-15 05:58
Modified
2026-08-17 05:46
Severity ?
VLAI Severity ?
EPSS score ?
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
kernfs: fix xattr race condition with multiple superblocks
Multiple superblocks with different namespaces can share the same
kernfs_node when kernfs_test_super() finds a matching root but
different namespace. This means multiple inodes from different
superblocks can reference the same kernfs_node->iattr->xattrs
structure.
The VFS layer only holds per-inode locks during xattr operations,
which is insufficient to serialize concurrent xattr modifications on
the shared kernfs_node. This can lead to race conditions in
simple_xattr_set() where the lookup->replace/remove sequence is not
atomic with respect to operations from other superblocks.
Fix this by protecting xattr operations with the existing hashed
kernfs_locks->open_file_mutex[] array, which is already used to
protect per-node open file data. The hashed mutex array provides
scalable per-node serialization (scaled by CPU count, up to 1024 locks
on 32+ CPU systems) with zero memory overhead.
Changes:
- Rename open_file_mutex[] to node_mutex[] to reflect dual purpose
- Add kernfs_node_lock_ptr() and kernfs_node_lock() helpers
- Protect simple_xattr_set() calls in kernfs_xattr_set() and
kernfs_vfs_user_xattr_set() with the hashed mutex
- Update file.c to use new helpers via compatibility wrappers
- Update documentation to explain the extended lock usage
References
Impacted products
{
"containers": {
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"affected": [
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"programFiles": [
"fs/kernfs/file.c",
"fs/kernfs/inode.c",
"fs/kernfs/kernfs-internal.h",
"fs/kernfs/mount.c",
"include/linux/kernfs.h"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
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{
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{
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"programFiles": [
"fs/kernfs/file.c",
"fs/kernfs/inode.c",
"fs/kernfs/kernfs-internal.h",
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"include/linux/kernfs.h"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
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"version": "7.1"
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{
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"version": "0",
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{
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"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
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"versionStartIncluding": "7.1",
"vulnerable": true
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"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nkernfs: fix xattr race condition with multiple superblocks\n\nMultiple superblocks with different namespaces can share the same\nkernfs_node when kernfs_test_super() finds a matching root but\ndifferent namespace. This means multiple inodes from different\nsuperblocks can reference the same kernfs_node-\u003eiattr-\u003exattrs\nstructure.\n\nThe VFS layer only holds per-inode locks during xattr operations,\nwhich is insufficient to serialize concurrent xattr modifications on\nthe shared kernfs_node. This can lead to race conditions in\nsimple_xattr_set() where the lookup-\u003ereplace/remove sequence is not\natomic with respect to operations from other superblocks.\n\nFix this by protecting xattr operations with the existing hashed\nkernfs_locks-\u003eopen_file_mutex[] array, which is already used to\nprotect per-node open file data. The hashed mutex array provides\nscalable per-node serialization (scaled by CPU count, up to 1024 locks\non 32+ CPU systems) with zero memory overhead.\n\nChanges:\n- Rename open_file_mutex[] to node_mutex[] to reflect dual purpose\n- Add kernfs_node_lock_ptr() and kernfs_node_lock() helpers\n- Protect simple_xattr_set() calls in kernfs_xattr_set() and\n kernfs_vfs_user_xattr_set() with the hashed mutex\n- Update file.c to use new helpers via compatibility wrappers\n- Update documentation to explain the extended lock usage"
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV3_1": {
"baseScore": 7.8,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"scenarios": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "AV:L - The bug is reached only through local VFS xattr operations (setxattr/fsetxattr syscalls) on kernfs-backed mounts such as cgroup2 and sysfs; there is no network-facing handler or remote pre-auth path to the vulnerable code.\nAC:L - The attacker fully controls both racing threads by mounting the same kernfs hierarchy from different namespace-tagged superblocks (e.g. sysfs in two network namespaces) and issuing concurrent setxattr calls against the same shared kernfs_node.\nPR:L - Exploitation requires only local user capabilities obtainable in an unprivileged user namespace (CAP_SYS_ADMIN to create namespaces and mount cgroup2/sysfs), not init-namespace root or host administrator privileges.\nUI:N - No victim interaction is required; the attacker mounts the filesystems, selects the target kernfs_node, and triggers the race with their own concurrent setxattr operations.\nS:U - Impact is confined to kernel memory corruption and privilege escalation within the same kernel/host security boundary; this is not a VM escape, sandbox breakout, or cross-authority scope change.\nC:H - Concurrent unsynchronized simple_xattr_set() on a shared rhashtable/list can cause use-after-free and heap corruption, which is readily weaponizable for arbitrary kernel memory disclosure, not merely a bounded leak.\nI:H - The race corrupts shared xattr rhashtable and list structures, enabling use-after-free and heap metadata corruption that can be leveraged for arbitrary kernel writes and local privilege escalation/code execution.\nA:H - The race can trigger kernel oops/panic from list/rhashtable corruption or use-after-free during concurrent replace/remove/free paths, causing complete loss of kernel availability even without full exploitation."
}
]
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:46:08.382Z",
"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"shortName": "Linux"
},
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf53db51359939755084d08156684ed649489592"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a07814ff643b5c8e1353d8c6229f52fde205cde"
}
],
"title": "kernfs: fix xattr race condition with multiple superblocks",
"x_generator": {
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}
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"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"assignerShortName": "Linux",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-74343",
"datePublished": "2026-08-15T05:58:32.577Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-08-15T05:44:03.886Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:46:08.382Z",
"state": "PUBLISHED"
},
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2"
}
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Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or seen somewhere by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability is confirmed from an analyst perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: This vulnerability was exploited and seen by the user reporting the sighting.
- Patched: This vulnerability was successfully patched by the user reporting the sighting.
- Not exploited: This vulnerability was not exploited or seen by the user reporting the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expresses doubt about the veracity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: This vulnerability was not successfully patched by the user reporting the sighting.
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