{"cve":"CVE-2026-31446","nvd":{"published":"2026-04-22T14:16:38.340","modified":"2026-10-19T19:17:53.660","status":"Modified","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\next4: fix use-after-free in update_super_work when racing with umount\n\nCommit b98535d09179 (\"ext4: fix bug_on in start_this_handle during umount\nfilesystem\") moved ext4_unregister_sysfs() before flushing s_sb_upd_work\nto prevent new error work from being queued via /proc/fs/ext4/xx/mb_groups\nreads during unmount. However, this introduced a use-after-free because\nupdate_super_work calls ext4_notify_error_sysfs() -> sysfs_notify() which\naccesses the kobject's kernfs_node after it has been freed by kobject_del()\nin ext4_unregister_sysfs():\n\n  update_super_work                ext4_put_super\n  -----------------                --------------\n                                   ext4_unregister_sysfs(sb)\n                                     kobject_del(&sbi->s_kobj)\n                                       __kobject_del()\n                                         sysfs_remove_dir()\n                                           kobj->sd = NULL\n                                         sysfs_put(sd)\n                                           kernfs_put()  // RCU free\n  ext4_notify_error_sysfs(sbi)\n    sysfs_notify(&sbi->s_kobj)\n      kn = kobj->sd              // stale pointer\n      kernfs_get(kn)             // UAF on freed kernfs_node\n                                   ext4_journal_destroy()\n                                     flush_work(&sbi->s_sb_upd_work)\n\nInstead of reordering the teardown sequence, fix this by making\next4_notify_error_sysfs() detect that sysfs has already been torn down\nby checking s_kobj.state_in_sysfs, and skipping the sysfs_notify() call\nin that case. A dedicated mutex (s_error_notify_mutex) serializes\next4_notify_error_sysfs() against kobject_del() in ext4_unregister_sysfs()\nto prevent TOCTOU races where the kobject could be deleted between the\nstate_in_sysfs check and the sysfs_notify() call.","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","score":7.8},"cwes":["CWE-416"],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/034053378dd81837fd6c7a43b37ee2e58d4f0b4e","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/08b10e6f37fc533a759e9833af0692242e8b3f93","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9449f99ba04f5dd1c8423ad8a90b3651d7240d1d","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c4d829737329f2290dd41e290b7d75effdb2a7ff","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c8fe17a1b308c3d8c703ebfb049b325f844342c3"],"products":["linux:linux_kernel"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-21T03:43:09.190223697+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2026-31446","score":0.00139,"percentile":0.03239,"date":"2026-10-25"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}