CVE-2026-90171
smb: smbdirect: release pending child sockets outside the handler lock
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: smbdirect: release pending child sockets outside the handler lock smbdirect_socket_destroy() releases the listener's pending/ready child sockets while still holding the listener's handler lock, the &id_priv->handler_mutex taken via rdma_lock_handler(), not sc->listen.lock, and before the listener's own rdma_destroy_id(). That ordering has one real consequence and one cosmetic one. The real one: smbdirect_socket_release() drops the child's last reference, which destroys the child's cm_id. Doing that before the listener's rdma_destroy_id() lets _cma_cancel_listens(), running from the listener's _destroy_id(), walk an already freed child id_priv, which KASAN catches as a slab-use-after-free during listener shutdown: [ 4758.909130] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __mutex_lock+0x1469/0x1560 [ 4758.911450] Read of size 1 at addr ffff88821c381db4 by task ksmbd.control/1652 [ 4758.913262] Call Trace: [ 4758.913267] <TASK> [ 4758.913299] __mutex_lock+0x1469/0x1560 [ 4758.913408] _cma_cancel_listens+0x312/0x3b0 [ 4758.913413] _destroy_id+0x363/0xee0 [ 4758.913417] smbdirect_socket_destroy_sync+0x17d5/0x2440 [ 4758.913443] smbdirect_socket_release+0x124/0x230 [ 4758.913451] ksmbd_rdma_stop_listening+0x9f/0x190 [ 4758.913457] ksmbd_conn_transport_destroy+0x65/0x3c0 [ 4758.913463] kill_server_store+0x1fb/0x2b0 [ 4758.913501] kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x349/0x4d0 [ 4758.913507] vfs_write+0x5e7/0xc70 [ 4758.913528] ksys_write+0x12a/0x210 [ 4758.913541] do_syscall_64+0x135/0x460 [ 4758.913555] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f The cosmetic one: releasing a child recurses into smbdirect_socket_destroy(), which takes the child's own rdma_lock_handler() lock nested under the listener's. The listener's and the child's cm_id are always different instances, so this cannot deadlock for real; the CM core itself nests a new connection id's handler_mutex under the listening id's in cma_ib_req_handler(). But lockdep only sees one lock class, reports possible recursive locking, and then disables itself, hiding real locking bugs for the rest of the run: [ 2424.579653] WARNING: possible recursive locking detected [ 2424.581180] 7.1.0-next-20260623+ #89 Not tainted [ 2424.582548] -------------------------------------------- [ 2424.584500] ksmbd.control/8854 is trying to acquire lock: [ 2424.586817] ffff888102303c20 (&id_priv->handler_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: smbdirect_socket_destroy_sync+0xc39/0x2440 [ 2424.590590] [ 2424.590590] but task is already holding lock: [ 2424.591601] ffff888102046c20 (&id_priv->handler_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: smbdirect_socket_destroy_sync+0xc39/0x2440 [ 2424.594178] [ 2424.594178] other info that might help us debug this: [ 2424.596634] Possible unsafe locking scenario: [ 2424.596634] [ 2424.598841] CPU0 [ 2424.599765] ---- [ 2424.600695] lock(&id_priv->handler_mutex); [ 2424.601836] lock(&id_priv->handler_mutex); [ 2424.602590] [ 2424.602590] *** DEADLOCK *** [ 2424.602590] [ 2424.604512] May be due to missing lock nesting notation Splice the pending/ready children onto a local list under the listener's listen.lock, while the handler lock is held so a concurrent CM CONNECT_REQUEST cannot add more, but defer the actual smbdirect_socket_release() calls until after the listener's cm_id has been destroyed and its handler lock dropped. The children are independent sockets whose teardown needs neither the listener's handler lock nor its cm_id. Found with ksmbdzzer [2], a KSMBD fuzzer that drives libFuzzer with a kcov-dataflow [1] coverage vector: it folds each instrumented comparison/argument's runtime operand value together with its PC (the default arm mixes them as pc⊕val) so that a new operand value at a known site counts as new coverage. [1] https://lwn.net/Articles/1077606/ [2] https://github.com/yskzalloc/kcov-dataflow
INFO
Published Date :
Sept. 17, 2026, 5:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
Sept. 17, 2026, 5:17 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Solution
- Splice pending children onto a list under listen.lock.
- Defer actual socket release until after listener teardown.
- Remove child socket teardown dependency on listener locks.
- Apply the provided kernel patch.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-90171.
| URL | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8ea83ef0c40ec4463695e22bc9ae43e29bcfede7 | |
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db82fbe4bb68e68e4aef00ef5b79f92991d8ef8e |
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-90171 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-90171
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-90171 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-90171 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Sep. 17, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: smbdirect: release pending child sockets outside the handler lock smbdirect_socket_destroy() releases the listener's pending/ready child sockets while still holding the listener's handler lock, the &id_priv->handler_mutex taken via rdma_lock_handler(), not sc->listen.lock, and before the listener's own rdma_destroy_id(). That ordering has one real consequence and one cosmetic one. The real one: smbdirect_socket_release() drops the child's last reference, which destroys the child's cm_id. Doing that before the listener's rdma_destroy_id() lets _cma_cancel_listens(), running from the listener's _destroy_id(), walk an already freed child id_priv, which KASAN catches as a slab-use-after-free during listener shutdown: [ 4758.909130] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __mutex_lock+0x1469/0x1560 [ 4758.911450] Read of size 1 at addr ffff88821c381db4 by task ksmbd.control/1652 [ 4758.913262] Call Trace: [ 4758.913267] <TASK> [ 4758.913299] __mutex_lock+0x1469/0x1560 [ 4758.913408] _cma_cancel_listens+0x312/0x3b0 [ 4758.913413] _destroy_id+0x363/0xee0 [ 4758.913417] smbdirect_socket_destroy_sync+0x17d5/0x2440 [ 4758.913443] smbdirect_socket_release+0x124/0x230 [ 4758.913451] ksmbd_rdma_stop_listening+0x9f/0x190 [ 4758.913457] ksmbd_conn_transport_destroy+0x65/0x3c0 [ 4758.913463] kill_server_store+0x1fb/0x2b0 [ 4758.913501] kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x349/0x4d0 [ 4758.913507] vfs_write+0x5e7/0xc70 [ 4758.913528] ksys_write+0x12a/0x210 [ 4758.913541] do_syscall_64+0x135/0x460 [ 4758.913555] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f The cosmetic one: releasing a child recurses into smbdirect_socket_destroy(), which takes the child's own rdma_lock_handler() lock nested under the listener's. The listener's and the child's cm_id are always different instances, so this cannot deadlock for real; the CM core itself nests a new connection id's handler_mutex under the listening id's in cma_ib_req_handler(). But lockdep only sees one lock class, reports possible recursive locking, and then disables itself, hiding real locking bugs for the rest of the run: [ 2424.579653] WARNING: possible recursive locking detected [ 2424.581180] 7.1.0-next-20260623+ #89 Not tainted [ 2424.582548] -------------------------------------------- [ 2424.584500] ksmbd.control/8854 is trying to acquire lock: [ 2424.586817] ffff888102303c20 (&id_priv->handler_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: smbdirect_socket_destroy_sync+0xc39/0x2440 [ 2424.590590] [ 2424.590590] but task is already holding lock: [ 2424.591601] ffff888102046c20 (&id_priv->handler_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: smbdirect_socket_destroy_sync+0xc39/0x2440 [ 2424.594178] [ 2424.594178] other info that might help us debug this: [ 2424.596634] Possible unsafe locking scenario: [ 2424.596634] [ 2424.598841] CPU0 [ 2424.599765] ---- [ 2424.600695] lock(&id_priv->handler_mutex); [ 2424.601836] lock(&id_priv->handler_mutex); [ 2424.602590] [ 2424.602590] *** DEADLOCK *** [ 2424.602590] [ 2424.604512] May be due to missing lock nesting notation Splice the pending/ready children onto a local list under the listener's listen.lock, while the handler lock is held so a concurrent CM CONNECT_REQUEST cannot add more, but defer the actual smbdirect_socket_release() calls until after the listener's cm_id has been destroyed and its handler lock dropped. The children are independent sockets whose teardown needs neither the listener's handler lock nor its cm_id. Found with ksmbdzzer [2], a KSMBD fuzzer that drives libFuzzer with a kcov-dataflow [1] coverage vector: it folds each instrumented comparison/argument's runtime operand value together with its PC (the default arm mixes them as pc⊕val) so that a new operand value at a known site counts as new coverage. [1] https://lwn.net/Articles/1077606/ [2] https://github.com/yskzalloc/kcov-dataflow Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/90xxx/CVE-2026-90171.json">CVE-2026-90171</a> Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8ea83ef0c40ec4463695e22bc9ae43e29bcfede7 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db82fbe4bb68e68e4aef00ef5b79f92991d8ef8e