System crash via leaked CIFS file reference
Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026
A reference leak in the Linux kernel CIFS client allows attackers to crash the system during a later multiuser-share unmount. When cifs_sb_tlink() fails, cifs_oplock_break() exits without passing the queued file reference to _cifsFileInfo_put(). Reachability requires a CIFS mount using -o multiuser, a cifs_sb_tlink() failure during an oplock break, and a later unmount.
Summary
What happened
A reference leak in the Linux kernel CIFS client allows attackers to crash the system during a later multiuser-share unmount. When cifs_sb_tlink() fails, cifs_oplock_break() exits without passing the queued file reference to _cifsFileInfo_put(). Reachability requires a CIFS mount using -o multiuser, a cifs_sb_tlink() failure during an oplock break, and a later unmount.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-97556
- Published
- Sep 25, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 25, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 25, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 25, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.15.128 <5.16
- Affected versionversion=5ee28bcfbaacf289eb25c662a2862542ea6ce6a7
- Affected versionversion=6.1.47 <6.2
- Affected versionversion=6.4.12 <6.5
- Affected versionversion=6.5
- Affected versionversion=6b67a6d2e50634fe127e656147c81915955e9f5e
- Affected versionversion=b99f490ea87ebcca3a429fd8837067feb56a4c7c
- Affected versionversion=e8f5f849ffce24490eb9449e98312b66c0dba76f <1d1b0f1d812a4011a57bc6c70492c34a2e46c6dd
- Affected versionversion=e8f5f849ffce24490eb9449e98312b66c0dba76f <23b26f4408ac3f35a482d2e5cf6fc865d4201b71
- Affected versionversion=e8f5f849ffce24490eb9449e98312b66c0dba76f <9ec991e148368e3207e98134c509a625097f7693
- Affected versionversion=e8f5f849ffce24490eb9449e98312b66c0dba76f <dd03fd658ea59821505e0e643b6b7cbdf51c4e1d
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
No sourced classifications are available.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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