CVE-2026-98984 json
dcache: don't put a mountpoint on a dentry that's being removed
published 19d ago modified 12d ago also EUVD-2026-108778
- 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 7%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
dcache: don't put a mountpoint on a dentry that's being removed
rmdir(), unlink() and rename() call dont_mount() on the victim and then detach_mounts() with the victim's inode locked. do_lock_mount() takes the inode lock of the mountpoint and checks cant_mount() so a mount can't show up after detach_mounts().
But attach_recursive_mnt() makes a second mountpoint for the root of the source mount so that the mounts already located at the destination can be put on top of it. No inode is locked for that one and d_set_mounted() only refuses a dentry that is unlinked. Between detach_mounts() and d_delete() the victim is still hashed:
rmrace: b passed dont_mount() and detach_mounts(), sleeping T2: move_mount(S, /tmp/plcant/x, BENEATH) = 0 errno 0 () T1: rmdir(/tmp/plcant/d/b) = 0 errno 0 109 107 0:61 /d/b//deleted /tmp/plcant/x rw,relatime - tmpfs tmpfs rw 108 109 0:63 / /tmp/plcant/x rw,relatime - tmpfs T rw
A bind mount of the directory that's being removed is moved beneath an existing mount while the rmdir() is located between the two calls. The mount ends up on the removed directory and nothing will ever detach it.
Check cant_mount() in d_set_mounted() as well. dont_mount() raises the flag under d_lock before detach_mounts() runs so either the mountpoint is set first and detach_mounts() finds the mount or the flag is seen and the mount is refused.
Patch / fix
- Linux Linux 4.2, 4.5, 4.10, 4.11, 7.3
- linux Debian 13 6.12.113-1
- linux Debian 14 7.2.11-1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98984
- linux Ubuntu 26.10 7.3.0-10.10
- linux-aws Ubuntu 26.10 7.3.0-1004.4
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 26.10 7.3.0-1004.4
- linux-raspi Ubuntu 26.10 7.3.0-1004.4
- linux-riscv Ubuntu 26.10 7.3.0-10.10.1
- linux-oracle Ubuntu 26.10 7.3.0-1004.4
- linux-realtime Ubuntu 26.10 7.3.0-10.10.1
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98984
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 Azure Linux 3.0 6.6.161.1-1
azure linux advisories AZL-110819
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/25e3ce3e2ebdd8ed3fc19dc1f7e3bc487f9240f3 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/982d231ad863bb14f7bda4852ab942c0203cec4b commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/96ca40461d8b91e13061ec4afb59bae6f07a516a commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/5e6bfd9f249f2c74bb63c0f06ad959da3bee0971 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/793cb67b0f52d00c67bd0e76bc57455b5c70ebb8 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/390ddcea2a8aca411b931a8e2863a80ccca8d2b3 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/30a1625022411a387cce9239408ece9955bc9c58 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/75f4197f1e11d2eb75c2d6f916a7d4764db621e5 commit
Is CVE-2026-98984 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-2026-98984 updated cvss 3.3
kernel: dcache: don't put a mountpoint on a dentry that's being removed
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 moreaffected: 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: 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
0.18% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 7% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-11).
Affected products
- Linux Linux
Classification
- Technology feeds
References
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/25e3ce3e2ebdd8ed3fc19dc1f7e3bc487f9240f3
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/982d231ad863bb14f7bda4852ab942c0203cec4b
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/96ca40461d8b91e13061ec4afb59bae6f07a516a
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/5e6bfd9f249f2c74bb63c0f06ad959da3bee0971
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/793cb67b0f52d00c67bd0e76bc57455b5c70ebb8
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/390ddcea2a8aca411b931a8e2863a80ccca8d2b3
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/30a1625022411a387cce9239408ece9955bc9c58
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/75f4197f1e11d2eb75c2d6f916a7d4764db621e5
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-98984
- NVD CVE-2026-98984
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