# 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.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 May 2026
- **Updated:** 27 May 2026
- **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

## 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 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45924?

It affects 1 product.


Products: 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

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-45924 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45924 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45924/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45924/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45924
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45924
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45924

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45924/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.