CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-98995

HighCVSS 7.8
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.21%

10th percentile - higher than 10% of all known CVEs

Summary

In the Linux kernel, mnt_change_mountpoint() did not reset the old parent's ->overmount, unlike __umount_mnt(). In the reparent()/propagate_umount() path this led to a dangling pointer and use-after-free when a file descriptor kept an unmounted mount alive, and do_lock_mount() followed ->overmount into the freed mount.

Risk Assessment

A use-after-free in mount handling may be exploitable, potentially leading to privilege escalation or kernel instability. Affects systems where mount operations are available to users.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that resets the old parent's ->overmount in mnt_change_mountpoint() the same way __umount_mnt() does.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

See all
Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: reset the old parent's ->overmount in mnt_change_mountpoint() __umount_mnt() resets ->overmount of the parent when it unmounts the mount that overmounts it. mnt_change_mountpoint() doesn't. It moves the mount to its new parent and leaves the old one pointing at it. For a mount that is moved beneath in attach_recursive_mnt() that doesn't matter. The new mount has already reset ->overmount of the old parent by the time the old top mount is moved onto it. It matters for reparent() though. propagate_umount() moves a surviving overmount onto the first ancestor that isn't going to be unmounted. The mount it was taken from is unmounted immediately afterwards. If a file descriptor keeps that unmounted mount alive ->overmount points at the moved mount. That's a dangling pointer and UAF as the moved mount is unmounted and freed. do_lock_mount() follows ->overmount from the target path under mount_lock. With a file descriptor on such a mount as the target of a mount beneath topmost_overmount() walks into the freed mount and do_lock_mount() takes references on whatever it finds there. So reset ->overmount of the old parent in mnt_change_mountpoint() the same way __umount_mnt() does. A mount's ->overmount is then always a mount that is attached to it.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS