CVE-2026-98451
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
smb: client: use finish_no_open() for non-regular inodes
An O_CREAT open can find an existing symlink or another non-regular inode. cifs_atomic_open() calls finish_open() on it and attaches a cifsFileInfo. Symlink inodes have no CIFS release operation, so the dentry reference held by cifsFileInfo is leaked. FMODE_OPENED also prevents the VFS from following the symlink.
Track whether cifs_do_create() returned an open server handle. For non-regular inodes, close the handle if present, remove the pending open, and call finish_no_open() so the VFS can continue the lookup. Do not set FMODE_CREATED unless a regular file was opened. For O_NOFOLLOW with __O_REGULAR, return -ELOOP before the VFS's -EFTYPE check.
Read full descriptionShow less
Defer closing a legacy POSIX handle on a non-regular inode until after inode lookup. This avoids closing it again if lookup fails.
CVSS
NVD hasn't assigned a CVSS score to this CVE (common since the April 2026 policy change).
Exploitation probability (EPSS)
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
- 0.17 %
- Percentile among all scored CVEs
- 6
- Score date
- 10/21/2026
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
Affected technologies (1)
⚠ AI-inferred from the description — NVD hasn't analyzed this CVE yet, these aren't verified CPEs.
References
Show 5 references
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/045532f920d86dd76600b635f9756e5fd671ddfc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3c07deb26273155c180aedfd9041ab58015d2521
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70a7918fda54a06d836acc91eb9a3c7e860fe0a0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e66cf1625ec4a3fe68346119f371def713fd0a4d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed03d547598c92a036f20e89156540995cac889a
Raw JSON (NVD)
Show
{
"id": "CVE-2026-98451",
"cveTags": [],
"metrics": {},
"affected": [
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"affectedData": [
{
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "d2c127197dfc0b2bae62a52e1e0d3e3ff493919e",
"lessThan": "045532f920d86dd76600b635f9756e5fd671ddfc",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "d2c127197dfc0b2bae62a52e1e0d3e3ff493919e",
"lessThan": "ed03d547598c92a036f20e89156540995cac889a",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "d2c127197dfc0b2bae62a52e1e0d3e3ff493919e",
"lessThan": "70a7918fda54a06d836acc91eb9a3c7e860fe0a0",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "d2c127197dfc0b2bae62a52e1e0d3e3ff493919e",
"lessThan": "3c07deb26273155c180aedfd9041ab58015d2521",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "d2c127197dfc0b2bae62a52e1e0d3e3ff493919e",
"lessThan": "e66cf1625ec4a3fe68346119f371def713fd0a4d",
"versionType": "git"
}
],
"programFiles": [
"fs/smb/client/dir.c"
],
"defaultStatus": "unaffected"
},
{
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "3.6"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"lessThan": "3.6",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.6.160",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.12.113",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18.56",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2.9",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.3",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
"lessThanOrEqual": "*"
}
],
"programFiles": [
"fs/smb/client/dir.c"
],
"defaultStatus": "affected"
}
]
}
],
"published": "2026-10-18T16:16:55.437",
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/045532f920d86dd76600b635f9756e5fd671ddfc",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3c07deb26273155c180aedfd9041ab58015d2521",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70a7918fda54a06d836acc91eb9a3c7e860fe0a0",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e66cf1625ec4a3fe68346119f371def713fd0a4d",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed03d547598c92a036f20e89156540995cac889a",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}
],
"vulnStatus": "Received",
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nsmb: client: use finish_no_open() for non-regular inodes\n\nAn O_CREAT open can find an existing symlink or another non-regular\ninode. cifs_atomic_open() calls finish_open() on it and attaches a\ncifsFileInfo. Symlink inodes have no CIFS release operation, so the\ndentry reference held by cifsFileInfo is leaked. FMODE_OPENED also\nprevents the VFS from following the symlink.\n\nTrack whether cifs_do_create() returned an open server handle. For\nnon-regular inodes, close the handle if present, remove the pending\nopen, and call finish_no_open() so the VFS can continue the lookup.\nDo not set FMODE_CREATED unless a regular file was opened. For\nO_NOFOLLOW with __O_REGULAR, return -ELOOP before the VFS's\n-EFTYPE check.\n\nDefer closing a legacy POSIX handle on a non-regular inode until\nafter inode lookup. This avoids closing it again if lookup fails."
}
],
"lastModified": "2026-10-21T13:21:30.400",
"sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}