Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5 smbdirect smbdirect_socket_destroy use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as very critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5. Impacted is the function smbdirect_socket_destroy of the component smbdirect. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-90171. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5 and classified as very critical. This issue affects the function smbdirect_socket_destroy of the component smbdirect. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: smbdirect: release pending child sockets outside the handler lock smbdirect_socket_destroy() releases the listener's pending/ready child sockets while still holding the listener's handler lock, the &id_priv->handler_mutex taken via rdma_lock_handler(), not sc->listen.lock, and before the listener's own rdma_destroy_id(). That ordering has one real consequence and one cosmetic one. The real one: smbdirect_socket_release() drops the child's last reference, which destroys the child's cm_id. Doing that before the listener's rdma_destroy_id() lets _cma_cancel_listens(), running from the listener's _destroy_id(), walk an already freed child id_priv, which KASAN catches as a slab-use-after-free during listener shutdown: [ 4758.909130] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __mutex_lock+0x1469/0x1560 [ 4758.911450] Read of size 1 at addr ffff88821c381db4 by task ksmbd.control/1652 [ 4758.913262] Call Trace: [ 4758.913267] <TASK> [ 4758.913299] __mutex_lock+0x1469/0x1560 [ 4758.913408] _cma_cancel_listens+0x312/0x3b0 [ 4758.913413] _destroy_id+0x363/0xee0 [ 4758.913417] smbdirect_socket_destroy_sync+0x17d5/0x2440 [ 4758.913443] smbdirect_socket_release+0x124/0x230 [ 4758.913451] ksmbd_rdma_stop_listening+0x9f/0x190 [ 4758.913457] ksmbd_conn_transport_destroy+0x65/0x3c0 [ 4758.913463] kill_server_store+0x1fb/0x2b0 [ 4758.913501] kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x349/0x4d0 [ 4758.913507] vfs_write+0x5e7/0xc70 [ 4758.913528] ksys_write+0x12a/0x210 [ 4758.913541] do_syscall_64+0x135/0x460 [ 4758.913555] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f The cosmetic one: releasing a child recurses into smbdirect_socket_destroy(), which takes the child's own rdma_lock_handler() lock nested under the listener's. The listener's and the child's cm_id are always different instances, so this cannot deadlock for real; the CM core itself nests a new connection id's handler_mutex under the listening id's in cma_ib_req_handler(). But lockdep only sees one lock class, reports possible recursive locking, and then disables itself, hiding real locking bugs for the rest of the run: [ 2424.579653] WARNING: possible recursive locking detected [ 2424.581180] 7.1.0-next-20260623+ #89 Not tainted [ 2424.582548] -------------------------------------------- [ 2424.584500] ksmbd.control/8854 is trying to acquire lock: [ 2424.586817] ffff888102303c20 (&id_priv->handler_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: smbdirect_socket_destroy_sync+0xc39/0x2440 [ 2424.590590] [ 2424.590590] but task is already holding lock: [ 2424.591601] ffff888102046c20 (&id_priv->handler_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: smbdirect_socket_destroy_sync+0xc39/0x2440 [ 2424.594178] [ 2424.594178] other info that might help us debug this: [ 2424.596634] Possible unsafe locking scenario: [ 2424.596634] [ 2424.598841] CPU0 [ 2424.599765] ---- [ 2424.600695] lock(&id_priv->handler_mutex); [ 2424.601836] lock(&id_priv->handler_mutex); [ 2424.602590] [ 2424.602590] *** DEADLOCK *** [ 2424.602590] [ 2424.604512] May be due to missing lock nesting notation Splice the pending/ready children onto a local list under the listener's listen.lock, while the handler lock is held so a concurrent CM CONNECT_REQUEST cannot add more, but defer the actual smbdirect_socket_release() calls until after the listener's cm_id has been destroyed and its handler lock dropped. The children are independent sockets whose teardown needs neither the listener's handler lock nor its cm_id. Found with ksmbdzzer [2], a KSMBD fuzzer that drives libFuzzer with a kcov-dataflow [1] coverage vector: it folds each instrumented comparison/argument's runtime operand value together with its PC (the default arm mixes them as pc⊕val) so that a new operand value at a known site counts as new coverage. [1] https://lwn.net/Articles/1077606/ [2] https://github.com/yskzalloc/kcov-dataflow

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-90171 since 09/11/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/17/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 8ea83ef0c40ec4463695e22bc9ae43e29bcfede7/db82fbe4bb68e68e4aef00ef5b79f92991d8ef8e is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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