vulnerability

Red Hat: CVE-2019-15794: kernel: Overlayfs in the Linux kernel and shiftfs not restoring original value on error leading to a refcount underflow

Severity
7
CVSS
(AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C)
Published
Apr 24, 2020
Added
Jul 9, 2025
Modified
Jul 9, 2025

Description

Overlayfs in the Linux kernel and shiftfs, a non-upstream patch to the Linux kernel included in the Ubuntu 5.0 and 5.3 kernel series, both replace vma->vm_file in their mmap handlers. On error the original value is not restored, and the reference is put for the file to which vm_file points. On upstream kernels this is not an issue, as no callers dereference vm_file following after call_mmap() returns an error. However, the aufs patchs change mmap_region() to replace the fput() using a local variable with vma_fput(), which will fput() vm_file, leading to a refcount underflow.

Solution

no-fix-redhat-rpm-package
Title
NEW

Explore Exposure Command

Confidently identify and prioritize exposures from endpoint to cloud with full attack surface visibility and threat-aware risk context.