CVE-2026-97950 json
configfs: pin the symlink target's dirent instead of chasing ->ci_dentry
published last mo. modified 21d ago also EUVD-2026-86804
- cvss
- —
- not scored
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 10%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
configfs: pin the symlink target's dirent instead of chasing ->ci_dentry
create_link() reads the target's configfs_dirent from item->ci_dentry->d_fsdata, relying on the item reference taken by get_target(). That reference pins the item, not its dentry: the dentry is pinned by DCACHE_PERSISTENT, which configfs_remove_dir() releases via simple_rmdir() while the item is still alive. A symlink racing with rmdir of its target can therefore find ->ci_dentry freed and its dirent released, triggering WARN_ON(!atomic_read(&sd->s_count)) in configfs_get().
Take the dirent in get_target() as well, under ->d_lock and atomically with the item reference, and pass it down to create_link(). A hashed dentry has not been killed yet, so its ->d_fsdata reference keeps the dirent alive there.
Patch / fix
- Linux Linux 6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.53, 7.2.7, 7.3
- linux Debian 13 6.12.113-1
- linux Debian 14 7.2.7-1
- linux-6.12 Debian 12 6.12.113-1~deb12u1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97950
- linux Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42
- linux-aws Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1016.17
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1016.18
- linux-ibm Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1017.17
- linux-riscv Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42.1
- linux-oracle Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1015.16
- linux-hwe-7.0 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
- linux-oem-7.0 Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1017.17
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97950
Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- kernel-64kb SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-syms SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-azure SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-source SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-default SLE Workstation Extension 15 SP7, SLE Module for Legacy 15 SP7, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 +2 more 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-zfcpdump SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-obs-build SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-default-base SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1.150700.17.47.1
suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:4706-1SUSE-SU-2026:4640-1SUSE-SU-2026:24316-1SUSE-SU-2026:24315-1SUSE-SU-2026:24181-1SUSE-SU-2026:24182-1
- kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 7.2.9-1.1
opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:12074-1
- kernel Azure Linux 3.0 6.6.161.1-1
azure linux advisories AZL-104570
Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/a44744454eafbc158e8c8e3ef8d207076410b195 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/846ff40fd57a47e59a41f4e331ec3b34efaddc23 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f54beb2e7f6d399396466682fba3539bcdcb414 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d47c5de1cd6bfbe1067fc310bf90e4e00205e839 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/a7c1290eef60711c10289c056ad32ed1f2b47b12 commit
Is CVE-2026-97950 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.
Check with FencerVendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-97950 updated cvss 5.5
kernel: configfs: pin the symlink target's dirent instead of chasing ->ci_dentry
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 moreaffected: workaround, no fix planned “Out of support scope”
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +83 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernel Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8, openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9affected: workaround, no fix available “Fix deferred”
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
Exploit prediction
0.21% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 10% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-11).
Affected products
- Linux Linux
Classification
- Technology feeds
References
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/a44744454eafbc158e8c8e3ef8d207076410b195
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/846ff40fd57a47e59a41f4e331ec3b34efaddc23
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/4f54beb2e7f6d399396466682fba3539bcdcb414
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/d47c5de1cd6bfbe1067fc310bf90e4e00205e839
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/a7c1290eef60711c10289c056ad32ed1f2b47b12
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-97950
- NVD CVE-2026-97950
Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.