CVE-2026-99170
HighCVSS 8.8Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk5th percentile - higher than 5% of all known CVEs
Summary
The Linux kernel has a namespace mount handling flaw: copy_tree() omits mounts of mount namespace files (e.g. /proc/<pid>/ns/mnt) without checking MNT_LOCKED. This lets a task that is root in its own user namespace bypass a locked cover mount and expose a hidden file without a race and without touching the underlying filesystem. The fix makes such copying fail with EPERM and refuses to move a mount namespace file mount beneath a locked mount.
Risk Assessment
A local user with root in their own user namespace can reveal files hidden by locked mounts, breaking isolation and potentially leaking data. It requires prior ability to create a user namespace.
Recommendation
Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix. Until then, consider restricting unprivileged user namespace creation (e.g. sysctl kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone=0 or appropriate LSM controls).
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
See all- CVE-2026-43603Medium
A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux GPU driver could potentially lead to a kernel crash. This may result in a denial of service on the affected system.
- CVE-2026-99270High
A use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's reqsk_timer_handler() function. When TCP socket migration fails at inet_ehash_insert(), the code jumps to the no_ownership label and immediately frees the new reqsk via __reqsk_free() without stopping its timer, potentially leading to a UAF.
- CVE-2026-99269High
In the Linux kernel sched_ext scheduler, a task can be found on a non-local DSQ while the CPU that dispatched it is still running ops.dequeue() and hasn't cleared SCX_OPSS_DISPATCHING. The DSQ consume and move paths don't wait for dispatch to finish and can operate on the task concurrently with the dispatcher. The fix adds scx_wait_dispatching() before operating on the task.
- CVE-2026-99268Unknown
In io_uring with IORING_SETUP_DEFER_TASKRUN, completions are queued as local work and only become CQEs when the submitter enters the kernel to wait for events. io_uring_poll() reports EPOLLIN if local work is pending, but only if the work exists at call time; after DEFER_TASKRUN was added, the ->poll_wq wakeup was replaced by directly waking the submitter, so poll() can sleep despite pending work. The fix wakes ->poll_wq when the first entry is put on the work list, using an RCU callback when needed.
- CVE-2026-99267Unknown
In io_uring NAPI with dynamic tracking, a NAPI id not seen for a minute should be dropped from the ring's busy-poll list. However, the timeout is computed incorrectly — SEC_CONVERSION is used instead of the number of jiffies per second, giving about eight years for HZ=1000 and overflowing on 32-bit systems. As a result, entries are never removed and every wait polls all historical ids.
- CVE-2026-99266Unknown
In io_uring zcrx, io_zcrx_queue_cqe() computes the buffer offset in its area from net_iov_idx(), which is an unsigned int, so the shift is done in 32 bits and only the result is widened to the u64 placed in the CQE. An area can be up to 1 TB, so for every niov beyond the first 4 GB the CQE points the application at a buffer 4 GB (or a multiple) below the correct one. The application reads wrong data and returns a buffer it doesn't own via the refill queue while the real one is never given back.
- CVE-2026-99265Unknown
In io_uring/openclose, io_pipe_fixed() installs both ends of the pipe in the fixed file table, drops ->uring_lock, and copies the slot numbers to the application. If that faults, it takes the lock again and removes whatever is in these slots. If the request is run by io-wq, the lock really is dropped and the slots are visible to others; by the time the error path gets to them, they may have been closed and reused (by IORING_OP_CLOSE, direct open/accept, or IORING_REGISTER_FILES_UPDATE), causing removal of a file unrelated to the failed request. The fix performs the copy with the lock held.
- CVE-2026-99264High
A bug was fixed in the Linux kernel's io_uring/net handling of recv retries on uncommitted buffers. When a receive was retried after a partial transfer, the kernel could hand out buffer memory that the retried request was still writing to, causing data overwrites. The request is now completed with the bytes received instead of retried, and MSG_WAITALL is no longer honoured for incremental buffers or multi-buffer bundles.
- CVE-2026-99263Unknown
In io_uring/poll, if a wakeup sets IO_POLL_RETRY_FLAG between the owning task consuming the existing instance of IO_POLL_RETRY_FLAG and the loop check in io_poll_check_events(), request processing stalls until an unrelated wakeup arrives. The fix uses atomic_cmpxchg instead of atomic_sub_return to guarantee both the count v and poll_refs are 0 and no wakeups are missed.
- CVE-2026-99262Unknown
In io_uring/timeout, an IORING_OP_TIMEOUT run by io-wq due to IOSQE_ASYNC has the same problem as poll, futex, and waitid. io_wq_submit_work() checks IO_WQ_WORK_CANCEL only once before issuing the request; a cancel in between flags the work, gets -EALREADY, and searches ->timeout_list in vain while the worker adds the request and starts the timer. Nobody checks the flag again and the timeout runs its course, and at ring exit a task can get stuck for the full duration. The fix checks the flag under ->timeout_lock and fails the request if set.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: a mount that copy_tree() leaves out can't take over a lock Since commit c62a4766937e ("move_mount: transfer MNT_LOCKED") a mount can be moved beneath a locked mount. The lock moves from the old cover to the new mount which takes over the job of hiding what's under it and the old cover can be unmounted. That works as long as the new mount stays. But the caller picks the new mount and copy_tree() leaves a mount of a mount namespace file out of every copy made without CL_COPY_MNT_NS_FILE, together with everything mounted on it, and never looks at MNT_LOCKED. unshare(CLONE_NEWNS) and mount propagation make such copies. So a task that is root in its own user namespace gets rid of a locked cover on a file without a race and without touching the filesystem below it. It makes a child with a mount namespace of its own, binds the child's /proc/<pid>/ns/mnt beneath the cover with MOVE_MOUNT_BENEATH, which hands the lock to that bind, and calls unshare(CLONE_NEWNS). The new mount namespace has nothing on the file. That's the usual way to mask a single file, a bind of /dev/null or of an empty file. With a bind of an ordinary file the file stays covered. copy_tree() already refuses to leave out a locked unbindable mount with -EPERM since commit df7342b24018 ("mount: Don't allow copying MNT_UNBINDABLE|MNT_LOCKED mounts"). Do the same for a locked mount of a mount namespace file. That also covers a tree copied with CL_COPY_MNT_NS_FILE and attached into a mount namespace of another user namespace where lock_mnt_tree() locks it. Note that unshare(CLONE_NEWNS) and clone(CLONE_NEWNS) fail with EPERM from such a mount namespace from then on. The mount can't be left out and it can't be unmounted. And refuse to move a mount of a mount namespace file beneath a locked mount in the first place. Otherwise the task ends up with a mount it can't unmount and an unshare() that fails for good. Chris also found a second mount that goes away by itself, a clone of an automounted mount that shrink_submounts() took along with its parent. Commit f78ddcc87224 ("namespace: never expire a locked mount") took care of that one. Chris's reproducer is appended. Mode nsfile reads SECRET after the unshare() on 7.3-rc7, with this patch the move_mount() fails with EINVAL and the file stays covered. nsfile-control uses an ordinary file and reads MASK both ways. // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 /* * Get rid of a locked cover with MOVE_MOUNT_BENEATH. * * The "admin" (root) makes a tmpfs W: * W/D file, holds SECRET, covered by a bind of a file with MASK * W/Dd/inner file, holds SECRET, Dd is covered by a bind of a directory * whose "inner" holds MASK * W/own directory of uid 1000 with the file "mine" and the * directory "minedir", whose "inner" holds MINE * W/dbg debugfs, mode 755. dbg/tracing is an automount point * The "attacker" is uid 1000. It enters a new user namespace with a new mount * namespace, so W and both covers are locked there. * * usage: prog MODE * plain put a bind of own/mine beneath the cover of D, unmount the cover * nsfile put a bind of the mount namespace file of a child beneath the * cover of D, then unshare(CLONE_NEWNS) * nsfile-control the same with a bind of own/mine * shrink put a bind of the automounted tracefs beneath the cover of Dd, * unmount the cover, put a tmpfs beneath W, call umount(W), which fails * shrink-control the same with a bind of own/minedir * The environment variable AUTOMOUNT_DIR names another automount point for "shrink". */ #define _GNU_SOURCE #include <errno.h> #include <fcntl.h> #include <grp.h> #include <sched.h> #include <signal.h> #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> #include <unistd.h> ---truncated---
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS

