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CVE-2026-89788
ksmbd: fix tree connection use-after-free in smb2_tree_connect()
Published 2026-09-16 (33 days 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-2026-89788 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 | 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
ksmbd_tree_conn_connect() publishes a new tree connection in sess->tree_conns with a single reference and returns its pointer to smb2_tree_connect(). The handler continues to initialize the object and build the response after publication. A concurrent session logoff can erase the connection and drop that reference, freeing the object while the handler still uses it. BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in smb2_tree_connect+0xe3d/0xf90 smb2_tree_connect (fs/smb/server/smb2pdu.c:2872) handle_ksmbd_work process_one_work worker_thread kthread After xa_store() succeeds, take a second reference before releasing tree_conns_lock. The original reference belongs to the xarray entry and the second belongs to the creating smb2_tree_connect() handler. Keep the references balanced in every path: - On normal exit or an error after publication, smb2_tree_connect() drops its creator reference. Error cleanup also calls ksmbd_tree_conn_disconnect(), which drops the xarray reference only if it removes the exact entry. - SMB2 TREE_DISCONNECT uses the same helper to remove the entry and drop its xarray reference. The request's existing lookup reference remains owned by the request and is released by the existing cleanup. - Session LOGOFF removes each entry and drops its xarray reference. If it wins the race, later cleanup sees that the entry is gone and does not drop that reference again. To enforce this ownership, claim the disconnected state and erase the exact entry atomically under tree_conns_lock. This guarantees one drop for the xarray reference and one drop by each in-flight user, regardless of which teardown path wins. If logoff removes the entry before initialization completes, fail the connect instead of marking the detached object TREE_CONNECTED.
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/mgmt/tree_connect.c
fs/smb/server/smb2pdu.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
- 2026-09-16 (33 days 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
- 0.55%, higher than 45.0% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 6.6 | 7.2.6 | 4e30fbd26e84 |
| 6.6 | 7.3 | b5ec6c462aab |
| 5.15.145 | 0 | 0 |
| 6.1.71 | 0 | 0 |
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
- ksmbd is the in-kernel SMB server on TCP/445; the UAF is reached from remote SMB2 TREE_CONNECT racing SESSION_LOGOFF via ksmbd_conn_handler_loop() through handle_ksmbd_work(), smb2_tree_connect(), ksmbd_tree_conn_connect(), and ksmbd_tree_conn_session_logoff().
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker drives both sides by issuing concurrent SMB2 TREE_CONNECT and SESSION_LOGOFF on their own connections (SMB3 multi-channel or parallel ksmbd-io work items). After xa_store() the object has one xarray ref, so logoff can free it while the handler still uses it; no victim timing or rare kernel config is required.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- TREE_CONNECT and LOGOFF need a valid SMB2 session, but ksmbd supports guest/anonymous users and guest-ok shares (including IPC$); guest session setup skips NTLMSSP password verification, so a reasonable NAS/IoT deployment lets an unauthenticated client reach this path.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No victim action is required; the attacker programmatically issues SESSION_SETUP, TREE_CONNECT, and LOGOFF on their own SMB connections to trigger the race.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The UAF corrupts ksmbd/kernel heap on the SMB server host and can escalate privileges within that kernel; it does not cross a VM, guest-to-host, container, or IOMMU/DMA security boundary.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Use-after-free of struct ksmbd_tree_connect and its share_conf pointer: after logoff kfree's the published object, smb2_tree_connect still reads share flags and fields, enabling arbitrary kernel disclosure via heap reuse.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The handler writes t_state, maximal_access, and posix_extensions into the freed object after xa_store(); with heap spray this yields arbitrary kernel writes and control-flow hijacking, matching High integrity for tree_conn UAF.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- KASAN reports slab-use-after-free in smb2_tree_connect on the ksmbd-io worker; the dangling tree_conn pointer causes a kernel oops or panic and is repeatable by resending TREE_CONNECT concurrently with LOGOFF.