CVE-2026-74359

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: configfs_lookup(): don't leave ->s_dentry dangling on failure Normally ->s_dentry is cleared when dentry it's pointing to becomes negative (on eviction, realistically). However, that only happens if dentry gets to be positive in the first place; in case of inode allocation failure dentry never becomes positive, so ->d_iput() is not called at all. We do part of what normally would've been done by configfs_d_iput() (dropping the reference to configfs_dirent) manually, but we do not clear ->s_dentry there. Sloppy as it is, it does not matter in case of configfs_create_{dir,link}() - there configfs_dirent does not survive dropping the sole reference to it. However, for configfs_lookup() it *does* survive, with a dangling pointer to soon to be freed dentry sitting it its ->s_dentry. Subsequent getdents(2) in that directory will end up dereferencing that pointer in order to pick the inode number. Use after free... This is the minimal fix; the right approach is to set the linkage between dentry and configfs_dirent only after we know that we have an inode, but that takes more surgery and the bug had been there since 2006, so...

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2026-08-15
Last modified 2026-08-15
Patch available
Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 2.6.16 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2-rc1 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 2.6.16
Fixed in
✓ 5.15.212 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.178 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.145 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.97 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.40 6.18.x ✓ 7.1.5 7.1.x ✓ 7.2-rc1

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2026-74359?

    CVE-2026-74359 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 2.6.16 onward and has been patched in 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145 and others. CVE-2026-74359 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-74359?

    Yes. CVE-2026-74359 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2026-74359 actively exploited?

    No. CVE-2026-74359 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.