ZeroHour

CVE-2026-89663

large

Use-After-Free in Linux Kernel nfsd Copy-Notify Stateid Handling

CVSS 3.1
8.8 high
EPSS
Published
()
Modified
AI analysis

A use-after-free exists in the Linux kernel's NFS server (nfsd) handling of copy-notify stateids, the structures backing NFSv4.2 server-to-server copy operations. When any of three stateid revoke paths (parent-stateid drain, OFFLOAD_CANCEL, or laundromat expiry) races with a concurrent stateid lookup that has already bumped the entry's reference count, the membership reference is dropped without unlinking the entry, so a subsequent revoke or laundromat pass frees memory a reader still holds, producing kernel memory corruption (KASAN-detectable at nfs4_put_cpntf_state()). Exploitation requires authenticated access as an NFS client (CVSS privileges required: low) and a carefully timed sequence of copy-notify/cancel requests, but success yields high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability — plausibly kernel privilege escalation or host crash. Any unpatched host running nfsd with NFSv4.2 support is affected, with storage and file servers enabling inter-server copy at greatest risk. No public proof-of-concept exists, the flaw is not in CISA's KEV catalog, and no exploitation in the wild has been reported.

What to do: Apply your distribution's kernel update containing the nfsd fix (the revoke_cpntf_state_locked patch) and reboot or restart nfsd on all NFS-serving hosts. If patching is delayed, restrict exports to trusted, authenticated clients only, ensure nfsd is not exposed to untrusted networks, and consider disabling NFSv4.2 inter-server (remote) copy where it is not required. Monitor NFS servers for kernel oopses, KASAN reports, or unexplained nfsd crashes as indicators of attempted triggering.

Affected
Linux kernel (nfsd - Network File System daemon)Specific version ranges not enumerated in the advisory; affects kernel releases carrying the flawed copy-notify stateid handling (s2s_cp_stateids IDR / _free_cp
Estimated exposure
largeTens of thousands to low hundreds of thousands of internet-exposed NFS endpoints, plus a larger unmeasured base of internal enterprise NFS servers — Public internet scans (e.g., Shodan) typically show on the order of 10^5 hosts with the NFS port 2049 open, and Linux dominates NFS server deployments, though the vulnerable path additionally requires an authenticated client and NFSv4.2…

Order-of-magnitude estimate by the model from install counts, market share and public scan data it knows; verify before quoting.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfsd: revoke copy-notify stateids before dropping their reference Copy-notify stateids live in the s2s_cp_stateids IDR and on their parent stid's sc_cp_list, pinned by a single membership reference. _free_cpntf_state_locked() only unlinks an entry once its refcount reaches zero, so any revoke path that runs while a concurrent find_cpntf_state()/manage_cpntf_state() holder has elevated cs_count drops the reference without unlinking, leaving the entry discoverable with its membership reference already consumed. A second revoke or a laundromat tick then frees it while the reader still holds the pointer -- a KASAN-detectable use-after-free at the reader's nfs4_put_cpntf_state(). This affected all three revoke paths: - The parent-stid drain (nfs4_free_cpntf_statelist()) repeatedly called _free_cpntf_state_locked() on the first list entry; a holder that had bumped cs_count made it return early, so the next iteration re-decremented and burned the holder's reference. - OFFLOAD_CANCEL (manage_cpntf_state()) and laundromat expiry likewise used _free_cpntf_state_locked() and could drop 2->1 without unlinking. Add revoke_cpntf_state_locked(), which unhashes the entry from the IDR and sc_cp_list first (deferring the final free to any holder), and use it from all three revoke paths. The drain now walks with list_for_each_entry_safe() and revokes each entry unconditionally, so it terminates in one pass per entry regardless of cs_count. The unhash is gated on !list_empty(&cps->cp_list); the idr_remove() gate matters because idr_alloc_cyclic() may have recycled the so_id by then. Keep _free_cpntf_state_locked() for the reference-holder put path only, where a concurrent revoke may already have unlinked the entry (its list_del_init() then a no-op).

Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

In the news

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