Stale data exposure via valid FS-Cache cookie
Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026
Stale-data exposure in the Linux SMB client allows local users to read pre-operation file contents from FS-Cache after a range change. The smb3_zero_range(), smb3_punch_hole(), smb3_insert_range(), and smb3_collapse_range() paths discard affected page-cache pages but leave the FS-Cache cookie valid, so a later read returns data cached before the server-side change. Reproduction requires a CIFS mount with fsc enabled, an active CacheFiles backend, and root access to drop caches; the demonstrated consequence is stale file-content disclosure.
Summary
What happened
Stale-data exposure in the Linux SMB client allows local users to read pre-operation file contents from FS-Cache after a range change. The smb3_zero_range(), smb3_punch_hole(), smb3_insert_range(), and smb3_collapse_range() paths discard affected page-cache pages but leave the FS-Cache cookie valid, so a later read returns data cached before the server-side change. Reproduction requires a CIFS mount with fsc enabled, an active CacheFiles backend, and root access to drop caches; the demonstrated consequence is stale file-content disclosure.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-98124
- Published
- Sep 25, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 25, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1005
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
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=3.17
- Affected versionversion=31742c5a331766bc7df6b0d525df00c6cd20d5a6 <448ba0ae65ca61064183564d2983c9aa59bd6ba7
- Affected versionversion=31742c5a331766bc7df6b0d525df00c6cd20d5a6 <93c6e5a8d7c5071d586c1411596d5db5faad22b2
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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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
Public exploit references
- Upstream CIFS FS-Cache stale-read reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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