CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-98979

Low risk· EPSS 6%
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.17%

6th percentile - higher than 6% of all known CVEs

Summary

The Linux kernel has a flaw in mount namespace handling that allows adding an automount below a mount that is not in the caller's mount namespace. clone_private_mount() sets MNT_NS_INTERNAL, so the validity check passes and count_mounts() dereferences an error pointer, causing a general protection fault. The issue is reachable from userspace via fanotify and occurs while namespace_sem is held for writing, blocking subsequent mount operations system-wide.

Risk Assessment

A user with fanotify access can trigger a kernel oops and block all mount operations on the system, resulting in denial of service. The risk is significant in multi-tenant environments or with unprivileged containers.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that replaces the MNT_NS_INTERNAL check with is_mounted(). Until patched, restrict fanotify access for unprivileged users.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

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Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: refuse an automount below a mount that is in no namespace It's possible to add autmounts even when the parent mount isn't in the mount namespace of the caller. The only requirement we have is that the parent mount namespace must not be NULL, i.e., unmounted. Problem is that clone_private_mount() has MNT_NS_INTERNAL which makes that trivially true. So that passes the test and attach_recursive_mnt() accepts that as a mount point and funny enough, count_mounts() dereferences MNT_NS_INTERNAL. The problem is it is an error pointer... So we can reach this in userspace via fanotify. A filesystem mark on the lower filesystem of an overlay reports paths on the layer clone and reading the event hands out a descriptor on it. For example with debugfs as the lower layer it goes kaboom: openat(evfd, "tracing", O_DIRECTORY) Oops: general protection fault KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x1d0-0x1d7] RIP: 0010:count_mounts+0x35/0x200 attach_recursive_mnt finish_automount And since that sleeping beauty happens under namespace_sem held for writing every mount operation on the system blocks from then on. Congrats. Use is_mounted() instead which rejects unmounted and internal mounts alike. The open fails with EINVAL just as it did before clone_private_mount() used MNT_NS_INTERNAL.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS