In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
kernfs: fix use-after-free in __kernfs_remove
Syzkaller managed to trigger concurrent calls to kernfs_remove_by_name_ns() for the same file resulting in a KASAN detected use-after-free. The race occurs when the root node is freed during kernfs_drain().
To prevent this acquire an additional reference for the root of the tree that is removed before calling __kernfs_remove().
Found by syzkaller with the following reproducer (slab_nomerge is required):
syz_mount_image$ext4(0x0, &(0x7f0000000100)='./file0\x00', 0x100000, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0) r0 = openat(0xffffffffffffff9c, &(0x7f0000000080)='/proc/self/exe\x00', 0x0, 0x0) close(r0) pipe2(&(0x7f0000000140)={0xffffffffffffffff, <r1=>0xffffffffffffffff}, 0x800) mount$9p_fd(0x0, &(0x7f0000000040)='./file0\x00', &(0x7f00000000c0), 0x408, &(0x7f0000000280)={'trans=fd,', {'rfdno', 0x3d, r0}, 0x2c, {'wfdno', 0x3d, r1}, 0x2c, {[{@cache_loose}, {@mmap}, {@loose}, {@loose}, {@mmap}], [{@mask={'mask', 0x3d, '^MAY_EXEC'}}, {@fsmagic={'fsmagic', 0x3d, 0x10001}}, {@dont_hash}]}})
Sample report:
================================================================== BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in kernfs_type include/linux/kernfs.h:335 [inline] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in kernfs_leftmost_descendant fs/kernfs/dir.c:1261 [inline] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __kernfs_remove.part.0+0x843/0x960 fs/kernfs/dir.c:1369 Read of size 2 at addr ffff8880088807f0 by task syz-executor.2/857
CPU: 0 PID: 857 Comm: syz-executor.2 Not tainted 6.0.0-rc3-00363-g7726d4c3e60b #5 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x6e/0x91 lib/dump_stack.c:106 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:317 [inline] print_report.cold+0x5e/0x5e5 mm/kasan/report.c:433 kasan_report+0xa3/0x130 mm/kasan/report.c:495 kernfs_type include/linux/kernfs.h:335 [inline] kernfs_leftmost_descendant fs/kernfs/dir.c:1261 [inline] __kernfs_remove.part.0+0x843/0x960 fs/kernfs/dir.c:1369 __kernfs_remove fs/kernfs/dir.c:1356 [inline] kernfs_remove_by_name_ns+0x108/0x190 fs/kernfs/dir.c:1589 sysfs_slab_add+0x133/0x1e0 mm/slub.c:5943 __kmem_cache_create+0x3e0/0x550 mm/slub.c:4899 create_cache mm/slab_common.c:229 [inline] kmem_cache_create_usercopy+0x167/0x2a0 mm/slab_common.c:335 p9_client_create+0xd4d/0x1190 net/9p/client.c:993 v9fs_session_init+0x1e6/0x13c0 fs/9p/v9fs.c:408 v9fs_mount+0xb9/0xbd0 fs/9p/vfs_super.c:126 legacy_get_tree+0xf1/0x200 fs/fs_context.c:610 vfs_get_tree+0x85/0x2e0 fs/super.c:1530 do_new_mount fs/namespace.c:3040 [inline] path_mount+0x675/0x1d00 fs/namespace.c:3370 do_mount fs/namespace.c:3383 [inline] __do_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3591 [inline] __se_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3568 [inline] __x64_sys_mount+0x282/0x300 fs/namespace.c:3568 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x38/0x90 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd RIP: 0033:0x7f725f983aed Code: 02 b8 ff ff ff ff c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 b0 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007f725f0f7028 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000a5 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f725faa3f80 RCX: 00007f725f983aed RDX: 00000000200000c0 RSI: 0000000020000040 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: 00007f725f9f419c R08: 0000000020000280 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000408 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000006 R14: 00007f725faa3f80 R15: 00007f725f0d7000 </TASK>
Allocated by task 855: kasan_save_stack+0x1e/0x40 mm/kasan/common.c:38 kasan_set_track mm/kasan/common.c:45 [inline] set_alloc_info mm/kasan/common.c:437 [inline] __kasan_slab_alloc+0x66/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:470 kasan_slab_alloc include/linux/kasan.h:224 [inline] slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slab.h:7 ---truncated---
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux Ami 2 | — | Upgrade kernel-livepatch-5.15.79-51.138Upgrade python-perfUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64Upgrade python-perf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade kernel-livepatch-4.14.299-223.520Upgrade perf-debuginfoUpgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade kernel-headersUpgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-debuginfoUpgrade perfUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade kernelUpgrade kernel-livepatch-5.10.155-138.670Upgrade bpftoolUpgrade kernel-tools-devel | May 20, 2026 | May 20, 2026 |
| Debian | — | Upgrade linux | Oct 3, 2025 | Oct 3, 2025 |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp13 | — | Upgrade kernelUpgrade kernel-abi-stablelistsUpgrade kernel-tools-libsUpgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade bpftoolUpgrade python3-perf | Feb 3, 2026 | Feb 2, 2026 |
| Redhat_linux | — | No solution exists | Jul 17, 2026 | Oct 1, 2025 |
| Ubuntu | — | Upgrade linuxUpgrade linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15Upgrade linux-hwe-5.15Upgrade linux-azure-5.4Upgrade linux-awsUpgrade linux-raspi-5.4Upgrade linux-hweUpgrade linux-ibm-5.4Upgrade linux-azureUpgrade linux-bluefieldUpgrade linux-iotUpgrade linux-gcp-fipsUpgrade linux-gcp-4.15Upgrade linux-hwe-5.4Upgrade linux-azure-4.15Upgrade linux-intel-iotg-5.15Upgrade linux-raspiUpgrade linux-kvmUpgrade linux-azure-5.15Upgrade linux-gcpUpgrade linux-gkeopUpgrade linux-oracle-5.15Upgrade linux-oracle-5.4Upgrade linux-aws-5.4Upgrade linux-gcp-5.15Upgrade linux-ibmUpgrade linux-lowlatencyUpgrade linux-oracleUpgrade linux-realtimeUpgrade linux-intel-iotgUpgrade linux-aws-5.15Upgrade linux-gcp-5.4Upgrade linux-nvidiaUpgrade linux-aws-fipsUpgrade linux-riscv-5.15Upgrade linux-xilinx-zynqmpUpgrade linux-gkeUpgrade linux-fipsUpgrade linux-aws-hweUpgrade linux-azure-fde-5.15Upgrade linux-azure-fips | Oct 10, 2025 | Oct 1, 2025 |
| Vmware Photon_os | — | Use 'tdnf update' to upgrade all packages to the latest version. | Oct 15, 2025 | Oct 1, 2025 |
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