Vulnerability record · CVE-2026-31444 · published 22 April 2026
CVE-2026-31444: Linux kernel use after free vulnerability
Linux · Linux Kernel
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: fix use-after-free and NULL deref in smb_grant_oplock() smb_grant_oplock() has two issues in the oplock publication sequence: 1) opinfo is linked into ci->m_op_list (via opinfo_add) before add_lease_global_list() is called. If add_lease_global_list() fails (kmalloc returns NULL), the error path frees the opinfo via __free_opinfo() while it is still linked in ci->m_op_list. Concurrent m_op_list readers (opinfo_get_list, or direct iteration in smb_break_all_levII_oplock) dereference the freed node. 2) opinfo->o_fp is assigned after add_lease_global_list() publishes the opinfo on the global lease list. A concurrent find_same_lease_key() can walk the lease list and dereference opinfo->o_fp->f_ci while o_fp is still NULL. Fix by restructuring the publication sequence to eliminate post-publish failure: - Set opinfo->o_fp before any list publication (fixes NULL deref). - Preallocate lease_table via alloc_lease_table() before opinfo_add() so add_lease_global_list() becomes infallible after publication. - Keep the original m_op_list publication order (opinfo_add before lease list) so concurrent opens via same_client_has_lease() and opinfo_get_list() still see the in-flight grant. - Use opinfo_put() instead of __free_opinfo() on err_out so that the RCU-deferred free path is used. This also requires splitting add_lease_global_list() to take a preallocated lease_table and changing its return type from int to void, since it can no longer fail.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: fix use-after-free and NULL deref in smb_grant_oplock() smb_grant_oplock() has two issues in the oplock publication sequence: 1) opinfo is linked into ci->m_op_list (via opinfo_add) before add_lease_global_list() is called. If add_lease_global_list() fails (kmalloc returns NULL), the error path frees the opinfo via __free_opinfo() while it is still linked in ci->m_op_list. Concurrent m_op_list readers (opinfo_get_list, or direct iteration in smb_break_all_levII_oplock) dereference the freed node. 2) opinfo->o_fp is assigned after add_lease_global_list() publishes the opinfo on the global lease list. A concurrent find_same_lease_key() can walk the lease list and dereference opinfo->o_fp->f_ci while o_fp is still NULL. Fix by restructuring the publication sequence to eliminate post-publish failure: - Set opinfo->o_fp before any list publication (fixes NULL deref). - Preallocate lease_table via alloc_lease_table() before opinfo_add() so add_lease_global_list() becomes infallible after publication. - Keep the original m_op_list publication order (opinfo_add before lease list) so concurrent opens via same_client_has_lease() and opinfo_get_list() still see the in-flight grant. - Use opinfo_put() instead of __free_opinfo() on err_out so that the RCU-deferred free path is used. This also requires splitting add_lease_global_list() to take a preallocated lease_table and changing its return type from int to void, since it can no longer fail.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected products
1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.
References
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Related vulnerabilities
Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2026-31444), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-27). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.
