CRITICAL Introduced in 6.10
ceph MDSCapAuth OOB
CVE-2026-89651
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
KernelScan AI9.1CRITICAL
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ceph: bound MDSCapAuth path and fs_name decode in handle_session() handle_session() decodes the MDSCapAuth records carried by a CEPH_SESSION_OPEN message (msg_version >= 6). For each record the match.path and match.fs_name byte strings are read by first decoding a 32-bit length and then copying that many bytes with the bare ceph_decode_copy(). Unlike the surrounding fields, which all use the _safe decode variants, these two copies are not preceded by a ceph_decode_need() bounds check, and the enclosing MDSCapAuth and MDSCapMatch struct_len fields are skipped rather than enforced as an upper bound. A length larger than the bytes remaining in the message front makes ceph_decode_copy() read past the end of the front buffer. The message front is a dedicated allocation (ceph_msg_new2() -> kvmalloc), so the over-read runs off that object. A malicious or compromised MDS can trigger this with the first post-connect message on mount, with no client-side user interaction; under KASAN it is reported as a slab-out-of-bounds read in handle_session(). Impact: a malicious MDS can force the kernel client to read up to 4 GiB past the message front allocation during session setup, crashing the client (out-of-bounds read). Switch both copies to ceph_decode_copy_safe(), which performs the ceph_decode_need() bounds check before the copy and branches to the existing bad label, matching the rest of the decoder and the error path that frees the partially decoded cap_auths array.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A malicious or compromised Ceph MDS can send a crafted CEPH_SESSION_OPEN message that causes the kernel client to read up to 4 GiB past the message front allocation during session setup, crashing the client. The bug is triggered automatically on mount with no user interaction. Any system mounting a Ceph filesystem from an untrusted or compromised MDS is at risk of denial of service.
Vulnerability analysis
The Ceph kernel client's session handler reads length-prefixed strings from the first message sent by the metadata server during session setup. It does not check whether the declared length of each string still fits inside the remaining message buffer before copying. A malicious or compromised server can declare a length far larger than the data actually present, making the client read past the end of the message buffer and trigger a slab out-of-bounds read that crashes the client. The fix adds bounds checks before each copy so the decoder verifies there are enough bytes left in the message, and aborts cleanly to the existing error path if not. The vulnerable path is reached automatically when a client mounts a Ceph filesystem and the server sends its first session message, requiring no client-side user interaction and no special privileges beyond connecting to an attacker-controlled server.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.18 | 6.10 | 6.18.50 | c37db86d2b5e |
| 7.2 | 6.10 | 7.2.4 | 5f892c767b30 |
| mainline | 6.10 | 7.3-rc1 | 77933e22adfe |
| 6.12 | 6.10 | 6.12.109 | dc5c7dffda92 |