Look up another CVE · open CVE-2026-74608 in the interactive tracker
CVE-2026-74608
smb: client: Fix use-after-free in cifs_try_adding_channels()
Published 2026-08-22 (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-2026-74608 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 | fixedDLA-4777-1 · 2026-09-08 · text | 6.1.187-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4777-1 shipped the fix on 2026-09-08, in 6.1.187-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixedDSA-6466-1 · 2026-08-25 · text | 6.12.105-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6466-1 shipped the fix on 2026-08-25, in 6.12.105-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.9-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.9-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.9-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.9-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12 | fixedDLA-4788-1 · 2026-09-19 · text | 6.12.107-1~deb12u1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4788-1 shipped the fix on 2026-09-19, in 6.12.107-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
cifs_try_adding_channels() takes a temporary reference to an interface before dropping iface_lock. If cifs_ses_add_channel() fails, it drops that reference and then increments iface->weight_fulfilled. A concurrent interface list refresh can remove the list reference while channel creation is in progress. In that case, the failure-path kref_put() releases the last reference and frees iface. Updating weight_fulfilled afterward then accesses freed memory. Increment weight_fulfilled before dropping the temporary reference, keeping iface alive for the final access.
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/client/sess.c
- What this is
- COMMON INTERNET FILE SYSTEM CLIENT (CIFS and SMB3)MAINTAINERS section matched on fs/smb/client/ · linux-cifs@vger.kernel.org · Supported
- Kernel module
- cifs
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_CIFS|CONFIG_SMBFS' /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 cifsPrints 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, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12m
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
- Build switches
- CONFIG_CIFS, CONFIG_SMBFS
- 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
- 2026-08-22 (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
- 0.48%, higher than 39.8% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 6.1.78 | 6.1.183 | 64d7584e62ac |
| 6.6.17 | 6.6.152 | c292d4686f71 |
| 6.8 | 6.12.104 | 47dfac48bce7 |
| 6.8 | 6.18.45 | 1ffacbadc145 |
| 6.8 | 7.1.9 | 1305eadc6a7d |
| 6.8 | 7.2 | 4986410316b1 |
| 6.7.5 | 0 | 0 |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4788-1 | 2026-09-19 | bookworm 6.12.107-1~deb12u1 | tracker |
| DLA-4777-1 | 2026-09-08 | bookworm 6.1.187-1 | tracker |
| DSA-6466-1 | 2026-08-25 | trixie 6.12.105-1 | tracker |
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 in the kernel SMB3 client multichannel path reached while handling remote SMB/CIFS server traffic (channel setup, reconnect, and FSCTL_QUERY_NETWORK_INTERFACE_INFO responses) over TCP, so a malicious or compromised SMB server can trigger it from the network.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- A hostile SMB server can force cifs_ses_add_channel() to fail and concurrently drive interface-list refresh during the unlocked window; the attacker controls both sides of the race via reconnects, binding failures, and crafted interface responses with retries.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- The attacker only needs to operate the malicious SMB server peer; no credentials, local shell access, or privileges on the victim host are required once the client has an SMB3 multichannel session to that server.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- After an SMB3 multichannel mount exists, kernel delayed query_interfaces work, automatic reconnect on dropped TCP, and post-mount channel scaling invoke cifs_try_adding_channels() without further user action, letting the server trigger exploitation repeatedly.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The UAF corrupts client kernel heap state within the same host kernel security authority and does not inherently cross a VM, container, or IOMMU security boundary.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Writing to a freed cifs_server_iface slab object is a use-after-free; attacker-influenced heap grooming can reclaim the object and enable arbitrary kernel memory disclosure via corrupted or overlapping live allocations.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The post-free weight_fulfilled increment is a kernel heap write after free that can corrupt adjacent slab objects and be leveraged into arbitrary write or control-flow hijacking through heap shaping.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The use-after-free can cause KASAN-detectable slab corruption, kernel oops, or panic, and a malicious server can retrigger it by repeating failed channel opens with concurrent interface-list refresh on reconnect.