CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-98992

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

In the Linux kernel, may_copy_tree() accepted a mount whose root is an nsfs or pidfs file before checking whether that mount is mounted. This exception also admitted a bind mount of such a file after lazy unmount, kept alive only by a file descriptor, so recursive copying (MS_REC/AT_RECURSIVE) copied the entire unmounted mount stack.

Risk Assessment

The bug allows copying unmounted mount trees, which may lead to unexpected behavior and potential namespace isolation security issues.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that refuses to walk an unmounted tree recursively (EINVAL) while still allowing copying its root alone.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

See all
Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: don't copy an unmounted mount tree may_copy_tree() accepts a mount whose root is an nsfs or pidfs file before it checks whether that mount is mounted. This exception exists for nsfs and pidfs mounts. They are part of no mount namespace so neither check_mnt() nor is_mounted() would let them through and bind-mounting a nsfsfd or a pidfd wouldn't work. Problem is that exception also admits a bind mount of such a file when it was lazily unmounted and is only kept alive by a file descriptor: mount --bind /proc/self/ns/net /tmp/x exec 3< /tmp/x umount -l /tmp/x mount --rbind /proc/self/fd/3 /tmp/y With MS_REC or AT_RECURSIVE copy_tree() doesn't stop at the unmounted mount. It copies every mount that stayed attached to it as well. So if you have a bunch of overmounts over the nsfsfd or the pidfd the whole unmounted stack is copied. That's a bug. So refuse to walk an unmounted tree. Copying its root alone stays possible. So a bind mount of a namespace that is gone can still be recreated from a file descriptor on the old one. The file descriptor pins that mount and its root and __has_locked_children() only reads the direct children which don't leave the parent's list without namespace_sem. The internal mounts carry MNT_NS_INTERNAL instead of NULL and are still walked. Copying an unmounted tree recursively fails with EINVAL.

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