CVE-2026-98990
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: check a submount for references right before unmounting it shrink_submounts() and mark_mounts_for_expiry() first collect all the mounts they are allowed to unmount and then unmount them. Whether a mount is busy is decided by propagate_mount_busy() on the tree. But unmounting the first mount changes the tree that the second one propagates into. propagate_umount() moves a surviving overmount off a copy it unmounts and mounts it where the copy was mounted. If that's where the propagated copy of the second victim is looked up the overmount becomes a candidate of the second umount_tree(). It's childless and so trim_one() commits it without looking at its reference count. So a synchronous umount pulls out a busy mount that is in use somewhere else and marks it MNT_SYNC_UMOUNT while it has users: umount2(/tmp/plshrink/p1, 0) = 0 errno 0 cwd is (unreachable) The same two umounts requested one after the other fail with EBUSY. This needs a mount with MNT_SHRINKABLE, i.e., automounted submounts of NFS, AFS and CIFS or the tracefs mount below debugfs. Bind mounts inherit the flag. Check each mount right before it is unmounted under the same hold of namespace_sem and mount_lock as the umount itself. Make sure that the algorithm stays linear.
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
4.1.40,
4.4.54,
4.9.15,
4.10.3,
4.11
and later are affected. Fixed in
6.6.160,
6.12.113,
6.18.57,
7.2.11,
7.3
and their respective stable series.
References
5 totalFrequently asked questions
-
What is CVE-2026-98990?
CVE-2026-98990 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.1.40 onward and has been patched in 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.57 and others. CVE-2026-98990 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
-
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-98990?
Yes. CVE-2026-98990 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.57 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.1.40 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
-
Is CVE-2026-98990 actively exploited?
No. CVE-2026-98990 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.