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Fencer Vulns
high 7.8

CVE-2026-31446 json

ext4: fix use-after-free in update_super_work when racing with umount

published 2026-04-22 6 mo ago modified 2026-10-19 20 d ago also EUVD-2026-24781

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.1%
EPSS 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 3%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ext4: fix use-after-free in update_super_work when racing with umount

Commit b98535d09179 ("ext4: fix bug_on in start_this_handle during umount filesystem") moved ext4_unregister_sysfs() before flushing s_sb_upd_work to prevent new error work from being queued via /proc/fs/ext4/xx/mb_groups reads during unmount. However, this introduced a use-after-free because update_super_work calls ext4_notify_error_sysfs() -> sysfs_notify() which accesses the kobject's kernfs_node after it has been freed by kobject_del() in ext4_unregister_sysfs():

update_super_work ext4_put_super ----------------- -------------- ext4_unregister_sysfs(sb) kobject_del(&sbi->s_kobj) __kobject_del() sysfs_remove_dir() kobj->sd = NULL sysfs_put(sd) kernfs_put() // RCU free ext4_notify_error_sysfs(sbi) sysfs_notify(&sbi->s_kobj) kn = kobj->sd // stale pointer kernfs_get(kn) // UAF on freed kernfs_node ext4_journal_destroy() flush_work(&sbi->s_sb_upd_work)

Instead of reordering the teardown sequence, fix this by making ext4_notify_error_sysfs() detect that sysfs has already been torn down by checking s_kobj.state_in_sysfs, and skipping the sysfs_notify() call in that case. A dedicated mutex (s_error_notify_mutex) serializes ext4_notify_error_sysfs() against kobject_del() in ext4_unregister_sysfs() to prevent TOCTOU races where the kobject could be deleted between the state_in_sysfs check and the sysfs_notify() call.

Patch / fix

  • Linux Linux 5.11, 5.15.203, 5.18, 6.1.168, 6.6.131, 6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11, 7.0
  • linux Debian 12 6.1.170-1
  • linux Debian 13 6.12.85-1
  • linux Debian 14 6.19.11-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31446

  • linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-186.196
  • linux Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-136.136
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1112.119
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1061.64
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1112.122
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1064.72
  • linux-gke Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1108.114
  • linux-gke Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1059.67

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31446

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • kernel-rt Linux Micro 6.1, Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-48.1
  • kernel-source-rt Linux Micro 6.1, Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-48.1
  • kernel-rt Real Time Module 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.7.59.2
  • kernel-syms-rt Real Time Module 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.7.59.1
  • kernel-source-rt Real Time Module 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.7.59.2
  • kernel-64kb SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.60.1
  • kernel-syms SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.60.1
  • kernel-azure SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.60.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:22433-1SUSE-SU-2026:22458-1SUSE-SU-2026:2591-1SUSE-SU-2026:2482-1SUSE-SU-2026:22108-1SUSE-SU-2026:22137-1

  • kernel-rt openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.35.1
  • dtb-aarch64 openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.35.1
  • kernel-64kb openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.35.1
  • kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.35.1
  • kernel-azure openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.35.1
  • kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.35.1
  • kernel-source openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.35.1
  • kernel-default openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.35.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:20965-1

  • kernel Azure Linux 3.0 6.6.134.1-2

azure linux advisories AZL-83282

Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2026-31446 updated cvss 5.5

kernel: ext4: fix use-after-free in update_super_work when racing with umount

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +83 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernel
    affected: workaround, no fix available “To mitigate this issue, prevent the ext4 module from being loaded. See https://access.redhat.com/solutions/41278 for instructions.”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

cisa ICSA-26-295-11 updated cvss 7.8

Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518(F)-4 PN/DP MFP

  • Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AB0) >= 3.1.7 Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AC0) >= 3.1.7 Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4FX00-1AB0) >= 3.1.7 Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4FX00-1AC0) >= 3.1.7 Siemens SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6AG1518-4AX00-4AC0) >= 3.1.7
    affected: mitigation, no fix available

Facts from CISA's republication of the vendor's own advisory (CSAF); the linked advisory is the authoritative source. CISA notification · csaf

cisa ICSA-26-209-04 updated cvss 7.8

Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518(F)-4 PN/DP MFP

  • Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AB0) >= 3.1.6 Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AC0) >= 3.1.6 Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4FX00-1AB0) >= 3.1.6 Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4FX00-1AC0) >= 3.1.6 Siemens SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6AG1518-4AX00-4AC0) >= 3.1.6
    affected: mitigation, no fix available

Facts from CISA's republication of the vendor's own advisory (CSAF); the linked advisory is the authoritative source. CISA notification · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
23 d ago

Exploit prediction

0.14% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 3% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

  • Linux Linux
  • Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP
  • Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP
  • Siemens SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP

Classification

Weakness
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.