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CVE-2026-72366
netfs: Fix netfs_create_write_req() to handle async cache object creation
Published 2026-08-15 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem fs/netfs. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-72366 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | vulnerable | 6.12.113-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series trixie tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for trixie have historically landed a median of 11 days after publication. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
netfs_create_write_req() will skip caching if the fscache cookie is disabled, but this is a problem because async cache object creation might not have got far enough yet that has been enabled - thereby causing the call to fscache_begin_write_operation() to be skipped. Fix this by removing the checks on the cookie and delegating this to fscache_begin_write_operation().
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
fs/netfs/write_issue.c
- What this is
- FILESYSTEMS [NETFS LIBRARY]MAINTAINERS section matched on fs/netfs/ · netfs@lists.linux.dev · Supported
- Kernel module
- netfs
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_NETFS_SUPPORT /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w netfsPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this as a loadable module. Every release with an answer below compiles it as a module on every flavour, so whether the code is in the running kernel depends on whether that module is loaded. The build rule could not be established for 1 release, so nothing is claimed about those.
- bookworm?
- trixie, forky, sidm
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.
- Build switch
- CONFIG_NETFS_SUPPORT
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-08-15 (2 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 9.8 critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- network (AV:N)source
- EPSS
- 0.65%, higher than 50.1% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- fs/netfs
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.11 | 6.18.40 | 8ab75e445c16 |
| 6.11 | 7.1.5 | 1188a9846fad |
| 6.11 | 7.2 | dbd6f56d975b |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:NAttack vector, network
- The bug is in netfs client write/cache coordination for CIFS, NFS+fscache, Ceph, AFS, and 9p. A malicious remote filesystem server can deliver file data and control protocol timing to drive async fscache object creation and subsequent kernel writeback over the network.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker controls both sides of the race by interleaving reads and writes or triggering writeback while the fscache cookie is still in CREATING/LOOKING_UP; the async-creation window can be hit reliably with retries, not conditions outside attacker influence.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- A malicious NFS/SMB/Ceph server needs no privileges on the victim client; once a fscache-enabled mount to that server exists, exploitation requires only ordinary file access or automated writeback, not real root or init-namespace capabilities.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- After a triggering read from the remote server, kernel writeback can invoke netfs_writepages without further victim action; an attacker with file access can also drive the race directly through concurrent read/write syscalls.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Impact is kernel heap/folio corruption during local pagecache I/O within the same kernel security authority; it does not inherently cross VM, container, IOMMU, or sandbox boundaries.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Skipping fscache_begin_write_operation desynchronizes cache and writeback streams; the same netfs/fscache subsystem previously produced UAFs when PG_private_2 coordination failed, enabling disclosure via freed/reused folio memory.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- Inconsistent dual-stream write completion can free or reuse folios while still referenced, yielding heap corruption primitives that related netfs fscache bugs have leveraged for arbitrary kernel writes and privilege escalation.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The related netfs fscache fix documented kernel oops, ceph caps warnings, RCU expedited stalls, and UAF crashes from this coordination failure class; skipping required cache setup can oops, panic, or hang the system during writeback.