# CVE-2026-53392: NFSv4/flexfiles: reject zero filehandle version count

> A malformed NFSv4 flexfiles layout with zero filehandle versions causes a null pointer dereference and kernel panic, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 19 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-92540, BELL-CVE-2026-53392, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53392, GHSA-3gfh-mq5v-c264, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-53392, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-53392, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-53392, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53392

## What is CVE-2026-53392?

CVE-2026-53392 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jul 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

NFSv4/flexfiles: reject zero filehandle version count

ff_layout_alloc_lseg() decodes the filehandle-version array count
from the flexfiles layout body. The value is used as the count for
kzalloc_objs(), and the current code only rejects NULL.

A zero count yields ZERO_SIZE_PTR, which can be stored in
dss_info->fh_versions even though later flexfiles paths assume that at
least one filehandle version exists.

Reject fh_count == 0 before the allocation, matching the existing zero
version_count validation in the flexfiles GETDEVICEINFO parser.

A QEMU/KASAN run with a malformed flexfiles layout hit:

  KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000010-0x0000000000000017]
  RIP: 0010:ff_layout_encode_ff_layoutupdate.isra.0+0x15f/0x750
  ff_layout_encode_layoutreturn+0x683/0x970
  nfs4_xdr_enc_layoutreturn+0x278/0x3a0
  Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception

The patched kernel rejects the malformed layout without KASAN/oops/panic,
and a valid fh_count=1 regression still opens, reads, and unmounts cleanly.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference), CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53392?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-53392?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-53392 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53392 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-2026-53392 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-53392 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jul 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53392 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-2026-53392/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53392/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53392
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53392
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53392

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53392/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.