CVE-2026-89641: cifs: clear tcon after cifsFileInfo_put() in cifs_file_set_size()

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-09-11 · updated 2026-10-19

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: clear tcon after cifsFileInfo_put() in cifs_file_set_size() When the else branch of cifs_file_set_size() finds a writable file handle via find_writable_file(), it borrows tcon and server from the handle's tlink, attempts the handle-based set_file_size() RPC, and then releases the handle with cifsFileInfo_put(). If set_file_size() fails, execution falls through to the path-based fallback, which reuses the borrowed tcon and server under the "if (tcon == NULL)" guard. Since tcon is not NULL at that point, the guard is skipped. If cifsFileInfo_put() dropped the last reference on a tlink that was already removed from the tlink tree (TCON_LINK_IN_TREE cleared, as happens during reconnection or session teardown), cifs_put_tlink() will have freed tcon; the subsequent set_path_size() call is then a use-after-free. Setting tcon = NULL after cifsFileInfo_put() causes the existing guard to take the cifs_sb_tlink() path, which acquires a fresh reference for the path-based operation or fails cleanly if the session is gone.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 6.18 — fixed in 7.3

How to fix

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

References

Get alerted when CVE-2026-89641 or the next vulnerability affects your stack