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CVE-2026-72382
ksmbd: reject undersized DACLs before parsing ACEs
Published 2026-08-15 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem fs/smb. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-72382 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 | vulnerable | 6.1.190-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.100-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.100-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| 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
parse_dacl() limits the attacker-controlled ACE count by comparing it with the number of minimal ACEs that fit in the DACL size. The DACL size field is 16 bits, but the expression subtracts sizeof(struct smb_acl). Because sizeof() is unsigned, a DACL size smaller than the ACL header underflows to a large size_t. A malicious client can reach this with: SMB2_SET_INFO (InfoType=SMB2_O_INFO_SECURITY) -> smb2_set_info_sec() -> set_info_sec() -> parse_sec_desc() -> parse_dacl() -> init_acl_state(..., 0xffff) -> init_acl_state(..., 0xffff) -> kmalloc_objs(..., 0xffff) Thus a malformed security descriptor can make num_aces pass the guard and drive large temporary ACL state and pointer-array allocations. Reject DACLs smaller than struct smb_acl before doing the subtraction, so the ACE count check cannot be bypassed by the underflow.
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/smb/server/smbacl.c
- What this is
- KERNEL SMB3 SERVER (KSMBD)MAINTAINERS section matched on fs/smb/server/ · linux-cifs@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- ksmbd
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_SMBFS|CONFIG_SMB_SERVER' /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 ksmbdPrints 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 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.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sidm
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
- Build switches
- CONFIG_SMBFS, CONFIG_SMB_SERVER
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
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
- 8.8 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- network (AV:N)source
- EPSS
- 0.63%, higher than 49.2% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- fs/smb
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 5.15 | 6.6.145 | 16fb65ec15fe |
| 5.15 | 6.12.97 | 282847c0cf22 |
| 5.15 | 6.18.40 | d020e7f27bf6 |
| 5.15 | 7.1.5 | 15a9e9b8f7f5 |
| 5.15 | 7.2 | 60908f7ebcd9 |
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 flaw is reached through ksmbd's in-kernel SMB2 server on TCP/445 via SMB2_SET_INFO (InfoType=SMB2_O_INFO_SECURITY) or SMB2 CREATE with an SD buffer, both handled from remote network input.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- An attacker reliably triggers the bug by sending a crafted security descriptor with DACL size below 8 bytes and a large num_aces (e.g. 0xFFFF), bypassing the underflowed ACE-count check without special timing or victim state.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- Exploitation requires an authenticated SMB session, a writable tree connect, an open file handle (or CREATE with SD buffer), and FILE_WRITE_DAC or FILE_WRITE_OWNER access on that object.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No victim interaction is required beyond the attacker sending malicious SMB2 protocol requests to an exposed ksmbd server.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Impact is confined to kernel memory exhaustion and ksmbd availability within the same host security authority; it does not cross VM, container, or IOMMU boundaries.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- The unsigned underflow bypasses DACL bounds validation, letting attacker-controlled num_aces drive multi-megabyte kernel heap allocations and parse attacker-supplied ACE data from malformed security descriptors.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- Attacker-controlled allocation sizing from bypassed validation creates large heap manipulation primitives in kernel context, consistent with similar ksmbd DACL integer-validation flaws scored at high integrity impact.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Each malicious request forces roughly 2.5 MB of kernel allocations; repeated or concurrent SMB2_SET_INFO calls can exhaust memory, trigger OOM/page-allocator failures, and deny service to ksmbd and the host.