# CVE-2026-52990: fsnotify: fix inode reference leak in fsnotify_recalc_mask()

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's fsnotify subsystem causes an inode reference leak, leading to hung tasks and denial of service during unmount operations.

- **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:** 24 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-90509, BELL-CVE-2026-52990, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-52990, GHSA-mrgj-88f9-5g2f, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-52990, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-52990, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-52990, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-52990, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-52990

## What is CVE-2026-52990?

CVE-2026-52990 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 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:

fsnotify: fix inode reference leak in fsnotify_recalc_mask()

fsnotify_recalc_mask() fails to handle the return value of
__fsnotify_recalc_mask(), which may return an inode pointer that needs
to be released via fsnotify_drop_object() when the connector's HAS_IREF
flag transitions from set to cleared.

This manifests as a hung task with the following call trace:

  INFO: task umount:1234 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
  Call Trace:
   __schedule
   schedule
   fsnotify_sb_delete
   generic_shutdown_super
   kill_anon_super
   cleanup_mnt
   task_work_run
   do_exit
   do_group_exit

The race window that triggers the iref leak:

  Thread A (adding mark)              Thread B (removing mark)
  ──────────────────────              ────────────────────────
  fsnotify_add_mark_locked():
    fsnotify_add_mark_list():
      spin_lock(conn->lock)
      add mark_B(evictable) to list
      spin_unlock(conn->lock)
    return

    /* ---- gap: no lock held ---- */

                                      fsnotify_detach_mark(mark_A):
                                        spin_lock(mark_A->lock)
                                        clear ATTACHED flag on mark_A
                                        spin_unlock(mark_A->lock)
                                        fsnotify_put_mark(mark_A)

    fsnotify_recalc_mask():
      spin_lock(conn->lock)
      __fsnotify_recalc_mask():
        /* mark_A skipped: ATTACHED cleared */
        /* only mark_B(evictable) remains */
        want_iref = false
        has_iref = true  /* not yet cleared */
        -> HAS_IREF transitions true -> false
        -> returns inode pointer
      spin_unlock(conn->lock)
      /* BUG: return value discarded!
       * iput() and fsnotify_put_sb_watched_objects()
       * are never called */

Fix this by deferring the transition true -> false of HAS_IREF flag from
fsnotify_recalc_mask() (Thread A) to fsnotify_put_mark() (thread B).

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-52990?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-52990?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-52990 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-52990 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-2026-52990 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-52990 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 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-2026-52990 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-2026-52990/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52990/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-52990
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-52990
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-52990

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52990/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.