---
id: CVE-2026-97594
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  landlock: Fix use-after-free of the source's parent directory

  current_check_refer_path() reads old_dentry->d_parent without holding a
  reference nor a lock on it, and t…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  landlock: Fix use-after-free of the source's parent directory

  current_check_refer_path() reads old_dentry->d_parent without holding a
  reference nor a lock on it, and t…
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= b91c3e4ea756b12b7d992529226edce1cfd854d7 <
    379efd2ce8b26fd35feb13ccc2f671ff105a5052
  - >-
    Linux >= b91c3e4ea756b12b7d992529226edce1cfd854d7 <
    ba29c46ccfe3ebadfb8aa18149186c49f84b14f8
  - >-
    Linux >= b91c3e4ea756b12b7d992529226edce1cfd854d7 <
    2c6dc792538260a8087ac5b22c31b3b8e47c85d6
  - Linux 5.19
published: '2026-09-25'
updated: '2026-09-25'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-25T15:18:00.670'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97594'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2c6dc792538260a8087ac5b22c31b3b8e47c85d6'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/379efd2ce8b26fd35feb13ccc2f671ff105a5052'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ba29c46ccfe3ebadfb8aa18149186c49f84b14f8'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-25T11:06:38.905Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

landlock: Fix use-after-free of the source's parent directory

current_check_refer_path() reads old_dentry->d_parent without holding a
reference nor a lock on it, and then dereferences it in
collect_domain_accesses() and in the audit record.

A reference on a child does not pin its parent: __d_move() reassigns
dentry->d_parent and drops the reference the child held on its former
parent.  hook_path_rename() is not affected because the rename path
calls lock_rename() before the hook, so the source cannot be reparented
under it.  hook_path_link() has no such protection: filename_linkat()
holds a reference on the source dentry but neither locks nor references
its parent, so a concurrent rename(2) can reparent the source while
security_path_link() runs, and the former parent can then be removed and
freed while the hook walks it.

A process can trigger this after entering a Landlock domain that handles
at least one filesystem access right.  The process can then race a
linkat(2) loop against rename(2) and rmdir(2):

  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in collect_domain_accesses+0x278/0x290
  Read of size 4 at addr ffff888160bd53f4 by task llrepro2/549
   collect_domain_accesses+0x278/0x290
   current_check_refer_path+0x952/0x1120
   security_path_link+0x1be/0x320
   filename_linkat+0x342/0x6d0
   __x64_sys_linkat+0xfa/0x150
  Freed by task 562:
   kmem_cache_free+0x139/0x4c0
   i_callback+0x4b/0x80
   rcu_core+0x7dc/0x10a0

Take a reference on the dentry selected as the source parent, using
dget() for the common-mount-root case and dget_parent() otherwise.
Release it after the hierarchy walk and synchronous audit logging.

[mic: Clarify the caller, reachability, and reference handling]

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.