In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

namespace: don't let a pseudo dentry become the root of a mount

d_alloc_pseudo() hands out dentries for pipes, sockets and other files
that are never anyone's child or parent. They carry DCACHE_NORCU and
dentry_free() frees them right away because no lockless path walk can
ever reach them. That holds as long as such a dentry isn't the root of
a mount. But bind mounting /proc/self/fd/<fd> of such a file does
exactly that.

Most callers of alloc_file_pseudo() put their files on kernel-internal
mounts and may_copy_tree() refuses those. bpf_token_create() doesn't. It
places the token file on the bpffs mount the caller handed it and that
mount is in the caller's mount namespace so the clone goes through:

mount --bind /proc/self/fd/<token> <file>
open_tree(tokfd, "", AT_EMPTY_PATH | OPEN_TREE_CLONE) + move_mount()

__follow_mount_rcu() then loads ->mnt_root of that mount, reads d_seq
and d_flags of the dentry and only then checks mount_lock. The dentry
can be gone by then. The final mntput() of an unmounted parent unhooks
a child that stayed attached to it under mount_lock alone. When the
child's holder does the final put right after that the root is dput()
and freed immediately while a walker that found the mount hashed still
looks at it.

Refuse to clone a mount with a DCACHE_NORCU dentry as its root. Nothing
sensible can be done with a bind mount of a bpf token anyway.
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-362
CWE-416

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: don't let a pseudo dentry become the root of a mount d_alloc_pseudo() hands out dentries for pipes, sockets and other files that are never anyone's child or parent. They carry DCACHE_NORCU and dentry_free() frees them right away because no lockless path walk can ever reach them. That holds as long as such a dentry isn't the root of a mount. But bind mounting /proc/self/fd/<fd> of such a file does exactly that. Most callers of alloc_file_pseudo() put their files on kernel-internal mounts and may_copy_tree() refuses those. bpf_token_create() doesn't. It places the token file on the bpffs mount the caller handed it and that mount is in the caller's mount namespace so the clone goes through: mount --bind /proc/self/fd/<token> <file> open_tree(tokfd, "", AT_EMPTY_PATH | OPEN_TREE_CLONE) + move_mount() __follow_mount_rcu() then loads ->mnt_root of that mount, reads d_seq and d_flags of the dentry and only then checks mount_lock. The dentry can be gone by then. The final mntput() of an unmounted parent unhooks a child that stayed attached to it under mount_lock alone. When the child's holder does the final put right after that the root is dput() and freed immediately while a walker that found the mount hashed still looks at it. Refuse to clone a mount with a DCACHE_NORCU dentry as its root. Nothing sensible can be done with a bind mount of a bpf token anyway.
Title namespace: don't let a pseudo dentry become the root of a mount
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-23T12:19:59.784Z

Reserved: 2026-09-25T10:25:14.384Z

Link: CVE-2026-98982

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-10-23T13:17:20.043

Modified: 2026-10-23T13:17:20.043

Link: CVE-2026-98982

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-10-23T15:00:13Z

Weaknesses