smb: client: fix use-after-free of iface in cifs_try_adding_channels()
CVE-2026-98173 · published 6 Oct 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: high, CVSS score 7.5 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-2026-98173?
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Who is affected
- Linux Linux: aa45dadd34e44fcd6a9df4b395bee5b5633b4cec to < ee0d8f83d68f6e6509f092c997ccab3c8c801538, aa45dadd34e44fcd6a9df4b395bee5b5633b4cec to < c941f1ebfd26f683de81091473f3596a218abff0, aa45dadd34e44fcd6a9df4b395bee5b5633b4cec to < e99040e5e9c60441e6b4725e1a7b88c3106ae903, aa45dadd34e44fcd6a9df4b395bee5b5633b4cec to < ec36b38e65596950e6c29bed7dfc90b98707c19c
- Linux Linux: 5.19
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: fix use-after-free of iface in cifs_try_adding_channels()
cifs_try_adding_channels() iterates ses->iface_list with
list_for_each_entry_safe_from(), which captures the next entry
(niface) under iface_lock. The loop body then drops iface_lock for
the whole duration of cifs_ses_add_channel().
A concurrent interface refresh (SMB3_request_interfaces() ->
parse_server_interfaces()) marks all ifaces inactive and removes and
frees any that are not re-advertised via list_del() + kref_put(),
where release_iface() is a bare kfree(). Since niface typically has
no channel holding a reference, the list reference is its last and it
can be freed inside the unlocked window. On continue, the iterator
advance step then dereferences niface->iface_head.next, and the loop
body reads iface->rdma_capable/is_active, both on freed memory.
Fix this by never keeping an unreferenced list pointer across the
unlocked window. Each channel attempt now re-scans the list from the
head under iface_lock, takes a kref on the selected candidate, and
passes only that referenced candidate to cifs_ses_add_channel().
weight_fulfilled still tracks selection progress, so restarting the
scan preserves the original weighted distribution and the
weight_fulfilled-before-kref_put ordering on the failure path.
Add a per-pass attempts cap so a flapping interface refresh cannot
keep the inner loop spinning within a single tries increment.
Check your whole app
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References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee0d8f83d68f6e6509f092c997ccab3c8c801538
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/c941f1ebfd26f683de81091473f3596a218abff0
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/e99040e5e9c60441e6b4725e1a7b88c3106ae903
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/ec36b38e65596950e6c29bed7dfc90b98707c19c
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d034e836eefd7ce75e588f7031cffbeec594f5ac
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 26 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON