CVE-2026-89484: lockd: fix NULL dereference on lockowner allocation failure

Severity: unknown
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-09-11 · updated 2026-10-30

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: lockd: fix NULL dereference on lockowner allocation failure nlmclnt_locks_init_private() installs NLM file lock operations even when nlmclnt_find_lockowner() fails to allocate a lockowner. nlmclnt_proc() then returns -ENOMEM, but the VFS still tears down the partially initialized file_lock and calls locks_release_private(). That invokes nlmclnt_locks_release_private(), which dereferences fl->fl_u.nfs_fl.owner and crashes because the owner was never installed. Clear fl_ops before attempting to initialize the NLM private state, and install the NLM lock operations only after a lockowner has been allocated successfully.

Affected products

Linux: 2.6.12 — fixed in 7.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux 7.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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