KernelScan.io

HIGH Introduced in 2.6.38

nfsd CrossMount Leak

CVE-2026-89707

CVSS 7.5 / 10.0 NVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

KernelScan AI6.5MEDIUM

01

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfsd: release path refs on follow_down() error nfsd_cross_mnt() initializes a local struct path with mntget() and dget() before calling follow_down(). On a negative return the error arm jumps to out without releasing those references: err = follow_down(&path, follow_flags); if (err < 0) goto out; follow_down() never drops the caller's entry-time refs on any error sub-case; for example a pre-cross d_manage() failure leaves path untouched, so the mntget()/dget() taken on entry survive the call. Every other early-exit arm in nfsd_cross_mnt() (other-namespace return, IS_ERR(exp2), and the success tail after the swap) already calls path_put(&path); the err < 0 arm is the lone omission. The leak inflates mnt_count and d_count on each failed cross-mount, blocking umount and pinning dentries against the shrinker, and is reachable by any authenticated NFS client through nfsd_lookup_dentry or the NFSv4 READDIR encode path. Fix by calling path_put(&path) before the goto out in the err < 0 arm so the entry-time refs are released on all follow_down() error returns.

02

Engine v0.6.0

Risk summary

An authenticated NFS client can repeatedly trigger a failed cross-mount traversal in the NFS server, leaking mount and dentry reference counts each time. Accumulated leaks block unmount operations and pin dentries in kernel cache, eventually degrading or denying service. Any deployment exposing nfsd to network clients is affected.

Affectedfs/nfsd/vfs.c (nfsd)

Vulnerability analysis

When the NFS server crosses a mount point on behalf of a client request, it takes reference counts on the path before attempting the traversal. If that traversal fails, the error path skips releasing those references, so every failed cross-mount permanently leaks a mount reference and a dentry reference. The fix adds the missing cleanup call so all error returns release the entry-time references, matching every other exit path in the same function. Any authenticated NFS client can reach this code through directory lookup or NFSv4 directory listing operations that encounter a mount point where the underlying filesystem's management callback returns an error, and repeated requests steadily exhaust server resources until umount is blocked and dentry cache pressure degrades the system.

03

BranchIntroducedFixed inPatch commit
6.122.6.386.12.109194316df8126
6.182.6.386.18.50467d56fd3ff5
6.62.6.386.6.157085cfde7c218
7.22.6.387.2.42bc4343308d8
mainline2.6.387.36cba08dc1922
cip/6.122.6.386.12.111-cip32194316df8126

04

State of the newest release of each Civil Infrastructure Platform SLTS tree, from CIP's own fix records.

CIP treeState
cip/6.12Fixed in 6.12.111-cip32
cip/6.1Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 6.1.189-cip61)
cip/6.1-rtAffected — no CIP fix yet (latest 6.1.189-cip61-rt32)
cip/5.10Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 5.10.271-cip78)
cip/5.10-rtAffected — no CIP fix yet (latest 5.10.268-cip77-rt34)
cip/4.19Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 4.19.325-cip136)
cip/4.19-rtAffected — no CIP fix yet (latest 4.19.325-cip136-rt50)
cip/4.4Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 4.4.302-cip115)
cip/4.4-rtAffected — no CIP fix yet (latest 4.4.302-cip115-rt63)