smb: client: clear setuid/setgid bit on write with cifsacl/modefromsid/posix extensions
CVE-2026-89638 · published 11 Sept 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: high, CVSS score 7.8 out of 10.
- No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
- Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- No public exploit in Exploit-DB.
Is your app affected by CVE-2026-89638?
Paste this prompt into Claude Code, Cursor or any AI coding tool: it runs a free Shippable scan of your project and fixes what it finds. Built with Lovable, Bolt or v0? Scan your live app. Or upload your package file.
Who is affected
- Linux Linux: d32c4f2626acc385d5187bd5c0c24f442328dc60 to < 7ceb6f7cb8f8f2b094e0dcdaf75757775d231378, d32c4f2626acc385d5187bd5c0c24f442328dc60 to < 58b23fc9fb580432470d6c5da3c1e5660dba9fbc, d32c4f2626acc385d5187bd5c0c24f442328dc60 to < b10015807e4c628095d1d1d1c9307efc8cdd9e1b, d32c4f2626acc385d5187bd5c0c24f442328dc60 to < 69bfe810ecd1e0387d8975d711cd326341d13c6e
- Linux Linux: 2.6.24
How to check
- Find out whether you run the affected product and which version, then compare it with the versions above.
How to fix
Copies a prompt for Claude Code, Cursor or Codex that asks it to check whether you run this product.
- Apply the vendor's update or mitigation from the references below. If there is none yet, limit exposure of the affected service until there is.
- If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.
The advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
smb: client: clear setuid/setgid bit on write with cifsacl/modefromsid/posix extensions
When a file has the setuid or setgid bit set and is written to, the VFS
strips those bits and issues a setattr with ATTR_KILL_SUID/ATTR_KILL_SGID
together with an ATTR_MODE carrying the already-cleared mode.
Both cifs_setattr_unix() and cifs_setattr_nounix() unconditionally dropped
ATTR_MODE in that case:
/* skip mode change if it's just for clearing setuid/setgid */
if (attrs->ia_valid & (ATTR_KILL_SUID|ATTR_KILL_SGID))
attrs->ia_valid &= ~ATTR_MODE;
This is fine for the default mount, where the mode is only emulated via
the DOS read-only attribute and cannot represent the setuid/setgid bits
anyway. However, with the "cifsacl" or "modefromsid" mount options the
mode is stored on the server through an ACL (id_mode_to_cifs_acl()), with
the SMB3.1.1 POSIX extensions the mode is sent to the server directly,
and with the SMB1 Unix extensions (cifs_setattr_unix) the mode is sent
via CIFSSMBUnixSetPathInfo(). In all those cases dropping ATTR_MODE means
the cleared mode is never pushed to the server, so the setuid/setgid bit
survives the write.
This is a security issue: on local filesystems the setuid bit is stripped
when a file is written, but over these cifs.ko mounts the bit persists on
the server, potentially allowing an unexpected privilege escalation on
subsequent execution.
Fix this in two places:
1. cifs_setattr_nounix(): only take the "skip mode change" shortcut
when the mode is emulated via the DOS read-only attribute (i.e.
neither cifsacl/modefromsid nor the SMB3.1.1 POSIX extensions are
in effect), so that the cleared mode is propagated to the server
in the ACL / POSIX cases.
2. cifs_setattr_unix(): this function is only called when Unix
extensions are in effect, so the mode is always stored on the
server. Remove the shortcut entirely so that the cleared mode is
always pushed.
Check your whole app
Dependencies are only half of it. Free and read-only: before you push, run npx shippable-dev scan localhost:3000 in your project folder, no account needed. For your live app, you prove it's yours with a one-line tag first.
References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ceb6f7cb8f8f2b094e0dcdaf75757775d231378
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/58b23fc9fb580432470d6c5da3c1e5660dba9fbc
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/b10015807e4c628095d1d1d1c9307efc8cdd9e1b
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/69bfe810ecd1e0387d8975d711cd326341d13c6e
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8e5dc4f95e5484159b343903f302eb6d783f2e6
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 26 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON