Kernel warning via configfs symlink removal race
Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026
Use-after-free in Linux configfs allows local users with configfs write access to trigger a kernel warning by racing symlink and rmdir. create_link() reads item->ci_dentry->d_fsdata after get_target() pins only the config_item, while concurrent configfs_remove_dir() can release the persistent dentry and its configfs_dirent. Reachability requires write access to the same configfs subsystem and precise concurrency; the documented result is a WARN_ON in configfs_get(), not code execution.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Linux configfs allows local users with configfs write access to trigger a kernel warning by racing symlink and rmdir. create_link() reads item->ci_dentry->d_fsdata after get_target() pins only the config_item, while concurrent configfs_remove_dir() can release the persistent dentry and its configfs_dirent. Reachability requires write access to the same configfs subsystem and precise concurrency; the documented result is a WARN_ON in configfs_get(), not code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-97950
- Published
- Sep 25, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 25, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
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=2.6.16
- Affected versionversion=7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa <4f54beb2e7f6d399396466682fba3539bcdcb414
- Affected versionversion=7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa <a7c1290eef60711c10289c056ad32ed1f2b47b12
- Affected versionversion=7063fbf2261194f72ee75afca67b3b38b554b5fa <d47c5de1cd6bfbe1067fc310bf90e4e00205e839
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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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
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Technologies
Your stack
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