GHSA-6338-GV67-39M8
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-10-23 15:31 – Updated: 2026-10-23 15:31In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
namespace: remove the fsnotify marks of a mount namespace in process context
mnt_ns_release() drops the last passive reference of a mount namespace and removes its fanotify marks via fsnotify_mntns_delete(). That takes the mutex of every group with a mark on the namespace and the spinlock of the connector. Fine from process context. But mnt_ns_tree_remove() hands the reference the namespace was allocated with to call_rcu() and so the marks are removed from the RCU softirq:
BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/locking/mutex.c:623 in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 0, non_block: 0, pid: 0, name: swapper/3 __mutex_lock+0x113/0x24b0 fsnotify_destroy_marks+0x11b/0x3d0 mnt_ns_release_rcu+0x57/0xa0 rcu_core+0x6b6/0x1e40
and lockdep complains about the connector lock being taken from softirq context. A fanotify group with a FAN_MARK_MNTNS mark on the mount namespace of another task is all that's needed. Root in a user namespace can do that for a mount namespace it owns. The task exits and the namespace is freed with the mark still on it.
Remove the marks in free_mnt_ns() before the namespace is handed to RCU. That runs in process context once the last active reference is gone. A mark is added through a file descriptor to the namespace which holds an active reference so no mark can show up after that.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-98986"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-10-23T13:17:20Z",
"severity": null
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnamespace: remove the fsnotify marks of a mount namespace in process context\n\nmnt_ns_release() drops the last passive reference of a mount namespace\nand removes its fanotify marks via fsnotify_mntns_delete(). That takes\nthe mutex of every group with a mark on the namespace and the spinlock\nof the connector. Fine from process context. But mnt_ns_tree_remove()\nhands the reference the namespace was allocated with to call_rcu() and\nso the marks are removed from the RCU softirq:\n\n BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/locking/mutex.c:623\n in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 0, non_block: 0, pid: 0, name: swapper/3\n __mutex_lock+0x113/0x24b0\n fsnotify_destroy_marks+0x11b/0x3d0\n mnt_ns_release_rcu+0x57/0xa0\n rcu_core+0x6b6/0x1e40\n\nand lockdep complains about the connector lock being taken from softirq\ncontext. A fanotify group with a FAN_MARK_MNTNS mark on the mount\nnamespace of another task is all that\u0027s needed. Root in a user\nnamespace can do that for a mount namespace it owns. The task exits and\nthe namespace is freed with the mark still on it.\n\nRemove the marks in free_mnt_ns() before the namespace is handed to RCU.\nThat runs in process context once the last active reference is gone. A\nmark is added through a file descriptor to the namespace which holds an\nactive reference so no mark can show up after that.",
"id": "GHSA-6338-gv67-39m8",
"modified": "2026-10-23T15:31:33Z",
"published": "2026-10-23T15:31:33Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98986"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1a116222acdcc1bc1a8350727ae6f28907d44594"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/888363d74c3b5d32e2accf217add70f8b38e0e2b"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e820a6becdd955a04adbedfd767253a47eedd9e"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
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