CVE-2026-72382: ksmbd: reject undersized DACLs before parsing ACEs

Severity: high (CVSS 8.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-08-15 · updated 2026-10-30

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: reject undersized DACLs before parsing ACEs parse_dacl() limits the attacker-controlled ACE count by comparing it with the number of minimal ACEs that fit in the DACL size. The DACL size field is 16 bits, but the expression subtracts sizeof(struct smb_acl). Because sizeof() is unsigned, a DACL size smaller than the ACL header underflows to a large size_t. A malicious client can reach this with: SMB2_SET_INFO (InfoType=SMB2_O_INFO_SECURITY) -> smb2_set_info_sec() -> set_info_sec() -> parse_sec_desc() -> parse_dacl() -> init_acl_state(..., 0xffff) -> init_acl_state(..., 0xffff) -> kmalloc_objs(..., 0xffff) Thus a malformed security descriptor can make num_aces pass the guard and drive large temporary ACL state and pointer-array allocations. Reject DACLs smaller than struct smb_acl before doing the subtraction, so the ACE count check cannot be bypassed by the underflow.

Affected products

Linux: 5.15 — fixed in 7.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux 7.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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