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CVE-2026-72377 (GCVE-0-2026-72377)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-15 05:56 – Updated: 2026-08-17 05:13
VLAI
Title
afs: Remove setting of AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS for symlinks and mountpoints
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: afs: Remove setting of AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS for symlinks and mountpoints Regular AFS files correctly use afs_file_aops which have release_folio set as netfs_release_folio, so AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS is valid for them when fscache is enabled (set via afs_vnode_set_cache()). Symlinks and mountpoints in AFS use afs_dir_aops, which does not provide a release_folio callback. However, afs_apply_status() unconditionally calls mapping_set_release_always() for these. In such case when memory management code attempts to release folios, filemap_release_folio() checks folio_needs_release() which returns true due to AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS being set. Since there is no release_folio callback, it falls through to try_to_free_buffers(), which at present expects buffer_heads to be not null. For symlinks and mountpoints without buffer_heads, this causes pointer dereference. [dh: Added more bits that were missed]
Severity
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: eae9e78951bb02a7b94a9adef6e981413d13c564 , < 9d6b0f6d437e2f8350e08678e5e1d20c11c364f3 (git)
Affected: eae9e78951bb02a7b94a9adef6e981413d13c564 , < 81e985b4c3a6cbcc443fcdcd3ebda7fcc845d459 (git)
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Linux Linux Affected: 6.14
Unaffected: 0 , < 6.14 (semver)
Unaffected: 7.1.5 , ≤ 7.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.2 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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              "operator": "OR"
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      "descriptions": [
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          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nafs: Remove setting of AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS for symlinks and mountpoints\n\nRegular AFS files correctly use afs_file_aops which have release_folio\nset as netfs_release_folio, so AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS is valid for them\nwhen fscache is enabled (set via afs_vnode_set_cache()).\nSymlinks and mountpoints in AFS use afs_dir_aops, which does not provide\na release_folio callback. However, afs_apply_status() unconditionally\ncalls mapping_set_release_always() for these.\n\nIn such case when memory management code attempts to release folios,\nfilemap_release_folio() checks folio_needs_release() which\nreturns true due to AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS being set. Since there is no\nrelease_folio callback, it falls through to try_to_free_buffers(),\nwhich at present expects buffer_heads to be not null. For symlinks\nand mountpoints without buffer_heads, this causes pointer dereference.\n\n[dh: Added more bits that were missed]"
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:13:29.683Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9d6b0f6d437e2f8350e08678e5e1d20c11c364f3"
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81e985b4c3a6cbcc443fcdcd3ebda7fcc845d459"
        }
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      "title": "afs: Remove setting of AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS for symlinks and mountpoints",
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    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-72377",
    "datePublished": "2026-08-15T05:56:11.017Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-08-09T03:40:39.922Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:13:29.683Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
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      "date": "2026-09-05",
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    },
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    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "Moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-08-18T07:27:21+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-72377",
      "id": "CVE-2026-72377",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-08-15T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_affected": "76",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "198",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: afs: Remove setting of AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS for symlinks and mountpoints",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-72377.json",
      "version": "3"
    }
  }
}



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