{"id":"CVE-2026-97950","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"configfs: pin the symlink target's dirent instead of chasing ->ci_dentry","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nconfigfs: pin the symlink target's dirent instead of chasing ->ci_dentry\n\ncreate_link() reads the target's configfs_dirent from\nitem->ci_dentry->d_fsdata, relying on the item reference taken by\nget_target().  That reference pins the item, not its dentry: the dentry is\npinned by DCACHE_PERSISTENT, which configfs_remove_dir() releases via\nsimple_rmdir() while the item is still alive.  A symlink racing with rmdir\nof its target can therefore find ->ci_dentry freed and its dirent\nreleased, triggering WARN_ON(!atomic_read(&sd->s_count)) in configfs_get().\n\nTake the dirent in get_target() as well, under ->d_lock and atomically\nwith the item reference, and pass it down to create_link().  A hashed\ndentry has not been killed yet, so its ->d_fsdata reference keeps the\ndirent alive there.","publishedAt":"2026-09-25T10:22:58.970Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-21T12:53:48.740Z","severity":null,"assigner":"Linux","products":["Linux Linux"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa","status":"affected","lessThan":"a44744454eafbc158e8c8e3ef8d207076410b195","versionType":"git"},{"version":"7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa","status":"affected","lessThan":"846ff40fd57a47e59a41f4e331ec3b34efaddc23","versionType":"git"},{"version":"7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa","status":"affected","lessThan":"4f54beb2e7f6d399396466682fba3539bcdcb414","versionType":"git"},{"version":"7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa","status":"affected","lessThan":"d47c5de1cd6bfbe1067fc310bf90e4e00205e839","versionType":"git"},{"version":"7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa","status":"affected","lessThan":"a7c1290eef60711c10289c056ad32ed1f2b47b12","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["fs/configfs/symlink.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"2.6.16","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"2.6.16","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.6.160","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.6.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.12.112","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.12.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.18.53","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.18.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.2.7","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"7.2.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.3","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["fs/configfs/symlink.c"]}],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a44744454eafbc158e8c8e3ef8d207076410b195","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/846ff40fd57a47e59a41f4e331ec3b34efaddc23","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f54beb2e7f6d399396466682fba3539bcdcb414","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d47c5de1cd6bfbe1067fc310bf90e4e00205e839","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a7c1290eef60711c10289c056ad32ed1f2b47b12"],"weaknesses":[],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:13:43.249Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/97xxx/CVE-2026-97950.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-97950","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-09-25T10:22:58.970Z","dateUpdated":"2026-10-21T12:53:48.740Z","assignerShortName":"Linux","assignerOrgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateReserved":"2026-09-25T10:18:58.205Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"configfs: pin the symlink target's dirent instead of chasing ->ci_dentry","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nconfigfs: pin the symlink target's dirent instead of chasing ->ci_dentry\n\ncreate_link() reads the target's configfs_dirent from\nitem->ci_dentry->d_fsdata, relying on the item reference taken by\nget_target().  That reference pins the item, not its dentry: the dentry is\npinned by DCACHE_PERSISTENT, which configfs_remove_dir() releases via\nsimple_rmdir() while the item is still alive.  A symlink racing with rmdir\nof its target can therefore find ->ci_dentry freed and its dirent\nreleased, triggering WARN_ON(!atomic_read(&sd->s_count)) in configfs_get().\n\nTake the dirent in get_target() as well, under ->d_lock and atomically\nwith the item reference, and pass it down to create_link().  A hashed\ndentry has not been killed yet, so its ->d_fsdata reference keeps the\ndirent alive there."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa","status":"affected","lessThan":"a44744454eafbc158e8c8e3ef8d207076410b195","versionType":"git"},{"version":"7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa","status":"affected","lessThan":"846ff40fd57a47e59a41f4e331ec3b34efaddc23","versionType":"git"},{"version":"7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa","status":"affected","lessThan":"4f54beb2e7f6d399396466682fba3539bcdcb414","versionType":"git"},{"version":"7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa","status":"affected","lessThan":"d47c5de1cd6bfbe1067fc310bf90e4e00205e839","versionType":"git"},{"version":"7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa","status":"affected","lessThan":"a7c1290eef60711c10289c056ad32ed1f2b47b12","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["fs/configfs/symlink.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"2.6.16","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"2.6.16","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.6.160","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.6.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.12.112","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.12.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.18.53","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.18.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.2.7","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"7.2.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.3","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["fs/configfs/symlink.c"]}],"references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a44744454eafbc158e8c8e3ef8d207076410b195"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/846ff40fd57a47e59a41f4e331ec3b34efaddc23"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f54beb2e7f6d399396466682fba3539bcdcb414"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d47c5de1cd6bfbe1067fc310bf90e4e00205e839"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a7c1290eef60711c10289c056ad32ed1f2b47b12"}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Linux","orgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateUpdated":"2026-10-21T12:53:48.740Z"},"cpeApplicability":[{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"2.6.16","versionEndExcluding":"6.6.160"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"2.6.16","versionEndExcluding":"6.12.112"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"2.6.16","versionEndExcluding":"6.18.53"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"2.6.16","versionEndExcluding":"7.2.7"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"2.6.16","versionEndExcluding":"7.3"}]}]}],"x_generator":{"engine":"bippy-1.2.0"}}}}}