{"id":"CVE-2026-98981","title":"namespace: unhash a dentry before detaching the mounts on it","summary":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnamespace: unhash a dentry before detaching the mounts on it\n\nunlink(), rmdir() and rename() remove the entry from the filesystem,\ncall detach_mounts() on the entry wit…","severity":"none","vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","affected":["Linux >= 8ed936b5671bfb33d89bc60bdcc7cf0470ba52fe < db90eecbde319527aa9480c039d32a0f5fe80574","Linux >= 8ed936b5671bfb33d89bc60bdcc7cf0470ba52fe < 8d71bfc9b3fc15d7103e82ea9dc5057541866e46","Linux >= 8ed936b5671bfb33d89bc60bdcc7cf0470ba52fe < d29cd99db3db74cf3447be74d25740981789d461","Linux >= 8ed936b5671bfb33d89bc60bdcc7cf0470ba52fe < 8300de4aa5d09061bfcf2af5b52c0cdba3873185","Linux >= 8ed936b5671bfb33d89bc60bdcc7cf0470ba52fe < 528b383dc35d1e5caf64ddf5d35f983ae543b0d0","Linux 3.18"],"published":"2026-10-23","updated":"2026-10-23","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-23T12:19:58.507Z","source":"CVEORG","sourceUrl":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98981","references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db90eecbde319527aa9480c039d32a0f5fe80574"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8d71bfc9b3fc15d7103e82ea9dc5057541866e46"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d29cd99db3db74cf3447be74d25740981789d461"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8300de4aa5d09061bfcf2af5b52c0cdba3873185"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/528b383dc35d1e5caf64ddf5d35f983ae543b0d0"}],"tags":["cve.org"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-23T13:24:55.549Z","slug":"CVE-2026-98981","body":"## Overview\n\nIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnamespace: unhash a dentry before detaching the mounts on it\n\nunlink(), rmdir() and rename() remove the entry from the filesystem,\ncall detach_mounts() on the entry with the inode locked and then call\nd_delete() once the inode is unlocked.\n\nThe thing is that between detach_mounts() and d_delete() the dentry is\nstill hashed and positive. But after detach_mounts() nothing covers the\ndentry anymore. A lookup that finds this dentry in the dcache can\nuncover what the mounts hid.\n\nThat's a problem when unlinking files or directories that are\nmountpoints in other mount namespaces. Everybody who had the underlying\nentry covered can race the detach_mount() call until d_delete() has run.\n\nThe race window isn't all that small. It encompasses namespace_unlock()\nwith a full synchronize_rcu_expedited() grace period and the\ninode_unlock() of the entry.\n\nIn my experiments three walkers that kept trying read an overmounted\nfile in 11938 of the 16140 unlinks that removed its mountpoint from a\nbind mount of the filesystem within a minute.\n\nFun fact, d_invalidate() has the same ordering problem but gets it\nright. It unhashes the dentry first and detaches the mounts afterwards.\nLet's do the same in __detach_mounts():\n\n- A lookup that hasn't found the dentry yet misses it in the dcache and\n  waits for the directory lock that the caller holds until the name is\n  gone for good.\n\n- A lockless lookup that found it already fails the mount_lock check\n  while the dentry still counts as a mountpoint and the d_seq check once\n  it doesn't, and retries.\n\nThis fixes the lockless path. We still need to fix the reference count\nlookup in a follow-up patch.\n\nSo d_drop() the dentry. The dentry stays positive and held but can't be\nfound anymore. Then proceed with the detach and unlink.\n\nReproducer:\n\nThe reads were counted with the program below, three walkers for 60 s\nin a VM with 4 CPUs. The race window is stretched with the debug patch\npasted here. fs.detach_race_walk_us sleeps in lookup_fast() once it\nfound a mountpoint dentry and before its mounts are crossed.\nfs.detach_race_unlink_us sleeps in vfs_unlink() between detach_mounts()\nand d_delete().\n\n  // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0\n  /*\n   * unlink_covered: unlink a file that is a mountpoint in a detached copy of\n   * its mount, against lookups that open it through that copy.\n   *\n   * A is a tmpfs with the file f1 (content SECRET_F) and the plain file\n   * MARK_A. A' is an open_tree(OPEN_TREE_CLONE) copy of A with MARK_A bound\n   * on A'/f1, held through an O_PATH fd on its root once the tree fd is\n   * closed. Walkers open f1 through that fd while the driver unlinks A/f1,\n   * where nothing is mounted on it. A walker may read MARK_A or get ENOENT.\n   * A read of SECRET_F is a hit: the name was found after its mount was\n   * gone. The lockless walks use openat2(RESOLVE_CACHED).\n   *\n   * usage: unlink_covered [-t seconds] [-w walkers]\n   */\n  #ifndef _GNU_SOURCE\n  #define _GNU_SOURCE\n  #endif\n  #include <errno.h>\n  #include <fcntl.h>\n  #include <pthread.h>\n  #include <stdatomic.h>\n  #include <stdio.h>\n  #include <stdlib.h>\n  #include <string.h>\n  #include <unistd.h>\n  #include <sys/mount.h>\n  #include <sys/stat.h>\n  #include <sys/syscall.h>\n  #include <linux/openat2.h>\n\n  #ifndef __NR_open_tree\n  #define __NR_open_tree 428\n  #endif\n  #ifndef __NR_move_mount\n  #define __NR_move_mount 429\n  #endif\n  #ifndef __NR_openat2\n  #define __NR_openat2 437\n  #endif\n  #ifndef OPEN_TREE_CLONE\n  #define OPEN_TREE_CLONE 1\n  #endif\n  #ifndef OPEN_TREE_CLOEXEC\n  #define OPEN_TREE_CLOEXEC O_CLOEXEC\n  #endif\n  #ifndef MOVE_MOUNT_F_EMPTY_PATH\n  #define MOVE_MOUNT_F_EMPTY_PATH 0x00000004\n  #endif\n\n  #define WORK \"/tmp/uc\"\n  #define ADIR WORK \"/A\"\n\n  static int duration = 60, nwalkers = 3;\n  static atomic_int stop, writer_waiting;\n  static pthread_rwlock_t cur_lock = PTHREAD_RWLOCK_INITIALIZER;\n  static int cur_fd = -1;\t\t/* the root of A', -1 wh\n---truncated---\n\n## Affected\n\n- `Linux >= 8ed936b5671bfb33d89bc60bdcc7cf0470ba52fe < db90eecbde319527aa9480c039d32a0f5fe80574`\n- `Linux >= 8ed936b5671bfb33d89bc60bdcc7cf0470ba52fe < 8d71bfc9b3fc15d7103e82ea9dc5057541866e46`\n- `Linux >= 8ed936b5671bfb33d89bc60bdcc7cf0470ba52fe < d29cd99db3db74cf3447be74d25740981789d461`\n- `Linux >= 8ed936b5671bfb33d89bc60bdcc7cf0470ba52fe < 8300de4aa5d09061bfcf2af5b52c0cdba3873185`\n- `Linux >= 8ed936b5671bfb33d89bc60bdcc7cf0470ba52fe < 528b383dc35d1e5caf64ddf5d35f983ae543b0d0`\n- `Linux 3.18`\n\n## Remediation\n\nRefer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":3,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":2.8,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[]}