CVE-2026-45924 ksmbd: call ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_end_removing() on some error paths
A missing cleanup call in the Linux kernel's ksmbd module can cause deadlocks and unbalanced locks, leading to a denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-45924?
CVE-2026-45924 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ksmbd: call ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_end_removing() on some error paths
There are two places where ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_end_removing() needs to be called in order to balance what the corresponding successful call to ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_start_removing() has done, i.e. drop inode locks and put the taken references. Otherwise there might be potential deadlocks and unbalanced locks which are caught like:
BUG: workqueue leaked lock or atomic: kworker/5:21/0x00000000/7596 last function: handle_ksmbd_work 2 locks held by kworker/5:21/7596: #0: ffff8881051ae448 (sb_writers#3){.+.+}-{0:0}, at: ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_locked+0x142/0x660 #1: ffff888130e966c0 (&type->i_mutex_dir_key#3/1){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_locked+0x17d/0x660 CPU: 5 PID: 7596 Comm: kworker/5:21 Not tainted 6.1.162-00456-gc29b353f383b #138 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.17.0-debian-1.17.0-1 04/01/2014 Workqueue: ksmbd-io handle_ksmbd_work Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x44/0x5b process_one_work.cold+0x57/0x5c worker_thread+0x82/0x600 kthread+0x153/0x190 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 </TASK>
Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org).
Weakness: CWE-667
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45924?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-45924?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-45924 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45924 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-45924, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45924, GHSA-x9p6-4mgw-jm88, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-45924, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-45924, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-45924.