Vulnerability-Lookup

FKIE_CVE-2026-98988

Vulnerability from fkie_nvd - Published: 2026-10-23 13:17 - Updated: 2026-10-23 13:17

Severity

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: keep covered mounts covered in OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE open_tree(OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE) creates a new mount namespace from a copy of the tree at the given path. The caller needs to be privileged over its current user namespace because the new mount namespace will be owned by it. It doesn't need to be privileged over the mount namespace the tree is copied from. An unprivileged user just needs to create a user namespace first. The copy follows the rules of a detached bind mount. Without AT_RECURSIVE only the mount itself is cloned and its children are left out. With AT_RECURSIVE unbindable mounts are skipped. Both is fine when the caller has privileges over the source mount namespace because it could unmount those mounts anyway. Not so for an unprivileged user in that mount namespace. For them a mount namespace copy is what unshare() does. copy_mnt_ns() copies everything including unbindable mounts and lock_mnt_tree() makes sure nothing can be unmounted in the copy. Nothing that was covered gets revealed. create_new_namespace() only does the locking and so the covered content is right there in the new mount namespace: # mount -t tmpfs none /tmp/otn; mkdir /tmp/otn/covered # echo hidden > /tmp/otn/covered/under.txt # mount -t tmpfs none /tmp/otn/covered uid 1000, after unshare(CLONE_NEWUSER): fd = open_tree(AT_FDCWD, "/tmp/otn", OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE); setns(fd, CLONE_NEWNS); open("/covered/under.txt", O_RDONLY) -> "hidden" Covering paths with mounts is how container runtimes mask parts of /proc and /sys and how admins hide things. When the caller's user namespace doesn't own the source mount namespace copy the way unshare() does and refuse a non-recursive copy of a mount that has anything mounted below the requested directory and copy unbindable mounts in a recursive copy. A caller that is privileged over the source mount namespace sees no change.

References

	URL	Tags
	416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0febe278ec45b1ccdbe9bd5ff1ba365d8fd55e2a
	416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8a94a405ddcf45e9470789e0a821d8f2aa4ca10

Impacted products

	Vendor	Product	Version

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "fs/namespace.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "b8a94a405ddcf45e9470789e0a821d8f2aa4ca10",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "9b8a0ba68246a61d903ce62c35c303b1501df28b",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "0febe278ec45b1ccdbe9bd5ff1ba365d8fd55e2a",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "9b8a0ba68246a61d903ce62c35c303b1501df28b",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "fs/namespace.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "7.0"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "7.0",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.2.11",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.3",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    }
  ],
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnamespace: keep covered mounts covered in OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE\n\nopen_tree(OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE) creates a new mount namespace from a\ncopy of the tree at the given path. The caller needs to be privileged\nover its current user namespace because the new mount namespace will be\nowned by it. It doesn\u0027t need to be privileged over the mount namespace\nthe tree is copied from. An unprivileged user just needs to create a\nuser namespace first.\n\nThe copy follows the rules of a detached bind mount. Without\nAT_RECURSIVE only the mount itself is cloned and its children are left\nout. With AT_RECURSIVE unbindable mounts are skipped. Both is fine when\nthe caller has privileges over the source mount namespace because it\ncould unmount those mounts anyway. Not so for an unprivileged user in\nthat mount namespace. For them a mount namespace copy is what unshare()\ndoes. copy_mnt_ns() copies everything including unbindable mounts and\nlock_mnt_tree() makes sure nothing can be unmounted in the copy. Nothing\nthat was covered gets revealed.\n\ncreate_new_namespace() only does the locking and so the covered content\nis right there in the new mount namespace:\n\n  # mount -t tmpfs none /tmp/otn; mkdir /tmp/otn/covered\n  # echo hidden \u003e /tmp/otn/covered/under.txt\n  # mount -t tmpfs none /tmp/otn/covered\n\n  uid 1000, after unshare(CLONE_NEWUSER):\n  fd = open_tree(AT_FDCWD, \"/tmp/otn\", OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE);\n  setns(fd, CLONE_NEWNS);\n  open(\"/covered/under.txt\", O_RDONLY)  -\u003e \"hidden\"\n\nCovering paths with mounts is how container runtimes mask parts of\n/proc and /sys and how admins hide things.\n\nWhen the caller\u0027s user namespace doesn\u0027t own the source mount namespace\ncopy the way unshare() does and refuse a non-recursive copy of a mount\nthat has anything mounted below the requested directory and copy\nunbindable mounts in a recursive copy. A caller that is privileged over\nthe source mount namespace sees no change."
    }
  ],
  "id": "CVE-2026-98988",
  "lastModified": "2026-10-23T13:17:20.753",
  "metrics": {},
  "published": "2026-10-23T13:17:20.753",
  "references": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0febe278ec45b1ccdbe9bd5ff1ba365d8fd55e2a"
    },
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8a94a405ddcf45e9470789e0a821d8f2aa4ca10"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
  "vulnStatus": "Received"
}

CVE-2026-98988 (GCVE-0-2026-98988)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-10-23 12:20 – Updated: 2026-10-23 12:20

Title

namespace: keep covered mounts covered in OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE

Summary

Severity

No CVSS data available.

Assigner

Linux CNA under the mitre root

CNA scorecard D 53/100 over 7061 records in the last 180 days details

References

2 references

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8a94a405ddcf45e9…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0febe278ec45b1ccd…

Impacted products

2 products

Vendor	Product	Version
Linux	Linux	Affected: 9b8a0ba68246a61d903ce62c35c303b1501df28b , < b8a94a405ddcf45e9470789e0a821d8f2aa4ca10 (git) Affected: 9b8a0ba68246a61d903ce62c35c303b1501df28b , < 0febe278ec45b1ccdbe9bd5ff1ba365d8fd55e2a (git)
Linux	Linux	Affected: 7.0 Unaffected: 0 , < 7.0 (semver) Unaffected: 7.2.11 , ≤ 7.2.* (semver) Unaffected: 7.3 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)

Show details on NVD website

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "fs/namespace.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "b8a94a405ddcf45e9470789e0a821d8f2aa4ca10",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "9b8a0ba68246a61d903ce62c35c303b1501df28b",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "0febe278ec45b1ccdbe9bd5ff1ba365d8fd55e2a",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "9b8a0ba68246a61d903ce62c35c303b1501df28b",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "fs/namespace.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "7.0"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "7.0",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.2.11",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.3",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.2.11",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "7.0",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.3",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "7.0",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnamespace: keep covered mounts covered in OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE\n\nopen_tree(OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE) creates a new mount namespace from a\ncopy of the tree at the given path. The caller needs to be privileged\nover its current user namespace because the new mount namespace will be\nowned by it. It doesn\u0027t need to be privileged over the mount namespace\nthe tree is copied from. An unprivileged user just needs to create a\nuser namespace first.\n\nThe copy follows the rules of a detached bind mount. Without\nAT_RECURSIVE only the mount itself is cloned and its children are left\nout. With AT_RECURSIVE unbindable mounts are skipped. Both is fine when\nthe caller has privileges over the source mount namespace because it\ncould unmount those mounts anyway. Not so for an unprivileged user in\nthat mount namespace. For them a mount namespace copy is what unshare()\ndoes. copy_mnt_ns() copies everything including unbindable mounts and\nlock_mnt_tree() makes sure nothing can be unmounted in the copy. Nothing\nthat was covered gets revealed.\n\ncreate_new_namespace() only does the locking and so the covered content\nis right there in the new mount namespace:\n\n  # mount -t tmpfs none /tmp/otn; mkdir /tmp/otn/covered\n  # echo hidden \u003e /tmp/otn/covered/under.txt\n  # mount -t tmpfs none /tmp/otn/covered\n\n  uid 1000, after unshare(CLONE_NEWUSER):\n  fd = open_tree(AT_FDCWD, \"/tmp/otn\", OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE);\n  setns(fd, CLONE_NEWNS);\n  open(\"/covered/under.txt\", O_RDONLY)  -\u003e \"hidden\"\n\nCovering paths with mounts is how container runtimes mask parts of\n/proc and /sys and how admins hide things.\n\nWhen the caller\u0027s user namespace doesn\u0027t own the source mount namespace\ncopy the way unshare() does and refuse a non-recursive copy of a mount\nthat has anything mounted below the requested directory and copy\nunbindable mounts in a recursive copy. A caller that is privileged over\nthe source mount namespace sees no change."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-23T12:20:07.483Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8a94a405ddcf45e9470789e0a821d8f2aa4ca10"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0febe278ec45b1ccdbe9bd5ff1ba365d8fd55e2a"
        }
      ],
      "title": "namespace: keep covered mounts covered in OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-98988",
    "datePublished": "2026-10-23T12:20:07.483Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-25T10:25:14.384Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-23T12:20:07.483Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Vulnerability timeline

Sightings and recorded dates, grouped by day · UTC

Order JSON

Publication & reservation Sightings KEV catalogs Other timestamps

Loading timeline…

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.

Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.

Action not permitted