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CVE-2026-89705
nfsd: restore rq_status_counter to even on all nfsd_dispatch() exit paths
Published 2026-09-11 (37 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem fs/nfsd. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-89705 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 | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
nfsd_dispatch() sets rq_status_counter to an odd value once a request has been decoded, and back to an even value once it has been fully processed, forming a seq-lock like protocol with the lockless reader in nfsd_nl_rpc_status_get_dumpit(). Only the fully successful path restored the counter to even. The cache-hit (RC_REPLY), drop (RC_DROPIT / RQ_DROPME) and encode-error paths all return after the odd-valued store without ever bringing the counter back to even. Once one of those paths is taken, rq_status_counter is left odd: the next request's decode ORs in 1 (still odd) and only a subsequent successful encode restores even. While stuck odd, the dumpit reader treats the rqstp fields as stable and its retry check compares against the same unchanging odd value, so it never detects concurrent mutation. This exposes actively mutating fields (e.g. args->ops / args->opcnt during compound decode and release) to the lockless reader, which can read past the end of the 8-element inline ops array. Add a helper that advances the counter to the next even value and call it on every return path that follows the odd-valued store. The decode-error path is left untouched as it is reached before the counter is set odd.
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/nfsd/nfssvc.c
- What this is
- KERNEL NFSD, SUNRPC, AND LOCKD SERVERSMAINTAINERS section matched on fs/nfsd/ · linux-nfs@vger.kernel.org · Supported
- Kernel module
- nfsd
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_NFSD /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 nfsdPrints 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 switch
- CONFIG_NFSD
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
- 2026-09-11 (37 days ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.1 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- local (AV:L)source
- EPSS
- 0.16%, higher than 5.3% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- fs/nfsd
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.7 | 6.18.57 | df5500ab85df |
| 6.7 | 7.2.4 | b08c30f08d57 |
| 6.7 | 7.3 | f6045886fe3f |
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:LAttack vector, local
- The confidentiality and availability impact is in nfsd_nl_rpc_status_get_dumpit(), reached only via NFSD_CMD_RPC_STATUS_GET over AF_NETLINK. Remote NFS RPCs can leave rq_status_counter odd in nfsd_dispatch() but never enter dumpit, so exploitation requires local netlink access.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- An attacker can send an NFSv4.0 COMPOUND with OP_CACHEME (SETCLIENTID) and a duplicate in-flight RPC so nfsd_cache_lookup() returns RC_DROPIT, leaving rq_status_counter stuck odd. Later compounds with more than eight ops then let dumpit observe opcnt/ops mid-decode with no seqlock retry; both sides are attacker-controlled.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- NFSD_CMD_RPC_STATUS_GET is registered with GENL_CMD_CAP_DUMP and no GENL_ADMIN_PERM, so any unprivileged process in the nfsd network namespace can invoke the dump. Exploitation does not require CAP_NET_ADMIN or init-namespace root.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- The attacker issues the netlink dump and the NFSv4 compounds themselves. No separate victim action such as mounting a filesystem or opening a device is required.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The slab over-read and netlink leak occur in host-kernel nfsd on the local machine. Impact stays inside one security authority and is not a VM escape, IOMMU bypass, or other cross-boundary breakout.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- With the counter stuck odd, dumpit treats mutating args->ops/opcnt as stable and reads min(opcnt,16) slots. When opcnt is set above eight before ops is switched off iops[8], indices 8-15 load adjacent slab at nfsd4_op stride and return those u32s via NFSD_A_RPC_STATUS_COMPOUND_OPS.
- I:NIntegrity impact, none
- dumpit only loads opnum into a stack nfsd_genl_rqstp for netlink. This seqlock bug yields an out-of-bounds read, not an out-of-bounds write, use-after-free write primitive, or control-flow hijack.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Slots 8-15 are sampled at sizeof(struct nfsd4_op) stride past the trailing iops[8] array in kmalloc'd nfsd4_compoundargs into adjacent or unmapped slab pages, which can oops the dumpit path even if the leak is not turned into a stable read.