CVEvulnerability
CVE-2025-68809
9.1 CRITICAL
Official page ↗
- Status
- Deferred
- Published
- 2026-01-13
- Last modified
- 2026-07-30
- Assigner
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
- CVSS 3.1 (416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67)
- 9.1 CRITICAL — CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ksmbd: vfs: fix race on m_flags in vfs_cache
ksmbd maintains delete-on-close and pending-delete state in
ksmbd_inode->m_flags. In vfs_cache.c this field is accessed under
inconsistent locking: some paths read and modify m_flags under
ci->m_lock while others do so without taking the lock at all.
Examples:
- ksmbd_query_inode_status() and __ksmbd_inode_close() use
ci->m_lock when checking or updating m_flags.
- ksmbd_inode_pending_delete(), ksmbd_set_inode_pending_delete(),
ksmbd_clear_inode_pending_delete() and ksmbd_fd_set_delete_on_close()
used to read and modify m_flags without ci->m_lock.
This creates a potential data race on m_flags when multiple threads
open, close and delete the same file concurrently. In the worst case
delete-on-close and pending-delete bits can be lost or observed in an
inconsistent state, leading to confusing delete semantics (files that
stay on disk after delete-on-close, or files that disappear while still
in use).
Fix it by:
- Making ksmbd_query_inode_status() look at m_flags under ci->m_lock
after dropping inode_hash_lock.
- Adding ci->m_lock protection to all helpers that read or modify
m_flags (ksmbd_inode_pending_delete(), ksmbd_set_inode_pending_delete(),
ksmbd_clear_inode_pending_delete(), ksmbd_fd_set_delete_on_close()).
- Keeping the existing ci->m_lock protection in __ksmbd_inode_close(),
and moving the actual unlink/xattr removal outside the lock.
This unifies the locking around m_flags and removes the data race while
preserving the existing delete-on-close behaviour.
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5adad9727a815c26013b0d41cfee92ffa7d4037c git.kernel.org
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/991f8a79db99b14c48d20d2052c82d65b9186cad git.kernel.org
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ccc78781041589ea383e61d5d7a1e9a31b210b93 git.kernel.org
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee63729760f5b61a66f345c54dc4c7514e62383d git.kernel.org