Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
namespace: check a submount for references right before unmounting it
shrink_submounts() and mark_mounts_for_expiry() first collect all the
mounts they are allowed to unmount and then unmount them.
Whether a mount is busy is decided by propagate_mount_busy() on the
tree. But unmounting the first mount changes the tree that the second
one propagates into. propagate_umount()
moves a surviving overmount off a copy it unmounts and mounts it where
the copy was mounted. If that's where the propagated copy of the second
victim is looked up the overmount becomes a candidate of the second
umount_tree(). It's childless and so trim_one() commits it without
looking at its reference count.
So a synchronous umount pulls out a busy mount that is in use somewhere
else and marks it MNT_SYNC_UMOUNT while it has users:
umount2(/tmp/plshrink/p1, 0) = 0 errno 0
cwd is (unreachable)
The same two umounts requested one after the other fail with EBUSY.
This needs a mount with MNT_SHRINKABLE, i.e., automounted submounts of
NFS, AFS and CIFS or the tracefs mount below debugfs. Bind mounts
inherit the flag.
Check each mount right before it is unmounted under the same hold of
namespace_sem and mount_lock as the umount itself. Make sure that the
algorithm stays linear.
namespace: check a submount for references right before unmounting it
shrink_submounts() and mark_mounts_for_expiry() first collect all the
mounts they are allowed to unmount and then unmount them.
Whether a mount is busy is decided by propagate_mount_busy() on the
tree. But unmounting the first mount changes the tree that the second
one propagates into. propagate_umount()
moves a surviving overmount off a copy it unmounts and mounts it where
the copy was mounted. If that's where the propagated copy of the second
victim is looked up the overmount becomes a candidate of the second
umount_tree(). It's childless and so trim_one() commits it without
looking at its reference count.
So a synchronous umount pulls out a busy mount that is in use somewhere
else and marks it MNT_SYNC_UMOUNT while it has users:
umount2(/tmp/plshrink/p1, 0) = 0 errno 0
cwd is (unreachable)
The same two umounts requested one after the other fail with EBUSY.
This needs a mount with MNT_SHRINKABLE, i.e., automounted submounts of
NFS, AFS and CIFS or the tracefs mount below debugfs. Bind mounts
inherit the flag.
Check each mount right before it is unmounted under the same hold of
namespace_sem and mount_lock as the umount itself. Make sure that the
algorithm stays linear.
Published:
2026-10-23
Score:
n/a
EPSS:
n/a
KEV:
No
Analysis
Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
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| Linux | Linux | affected |
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No data.
No data.
No data available yet.
Remediation
No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record.
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Tracking
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Advisories
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References
History
Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:45:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: check a submount for references right before unmounting it shrink_submounts() and mark_mounts_for_expiry() first collect all the mounts they are allowed to unmount and then unmount them. Whether a mount is busy is decided by propagate_mount_busy() on the tree. But unmounting the first mount changes the tree that the second one propagates into. propagate_umount() moves a surviving overmount off a copy it unmounts and mounts it where the copy was mounted. If that's where the propagated copy of the second victim is looked up the overmount becomes a candidate of the second umount_tree(). It's childless and so trim_one() commits it without looking at its reference count. So a synchronous umount pulls out a busy mount that is in use somewhere else and marks it MNT_SYNC_UMOUNT while it has users: umount2(/tmp/plshrink/p1, 0) = 0 errno 0 cwd is (unreachable) The same two umounts requested one after the other fail with EBUSY. This needs a mount with MNT_SHRINKABLE, i.e., automounted submounts of NFS, AFS and CIFS or the tracefs mount below debugfs. Bind mounts inherit the flag. Check each mount right before it is unmounted under the same hold of namespace_sem and mount_lock as the umount itself. Make sure that the algorithm stays linear. | |
| Title | namespace: check a submount for references right before unmounting it | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
|
MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-10-23T12:20:09.349Z
Reserved: 2026-09-25T10:25:14.384Z
Link: CVE-2026-98990
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-10-23T13:17:20.980
Modified: 2026-10-23T13:17:20.980
Link: CVE-2026-98990
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
Weaknesses
No weakness.