Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Reaching TREE_CONNECT needs an established SMB session (PR:L) and the flaw is a timing race against logoff (AC:H); kernel UAF gives total C/I/A impact within an unchanged scope.
Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).
CVSS VectorVendor: Linux
Lifecycle Timeline
6DescriptionCVE.org
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ksmbd: fix tree connection use-after-free in smb2_tree_connect()
ksmbd_tree_conn_connect() publishes a new tree connection in sess->tree_conns with a single reference and returns its pointer to smb2_tree_connect(). The handler continues to initialize the object and build the response after publication. A concurrent session logoff can erase the connection and drop that reference, freeing the object while the handler still uses it.
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in smb2_tree_connect+0xe3d/0xf90 smb2_tree_connect (fs/smb/server/smb2pdu.c:2872) handle_ksmbd_work process_one_work worker_thread kthread
After xa_store() succeeds, take a second reference before releasing tree_conns_lock. The original reference belongs to the xarray entry and the second belongs to the creating smb2_tree_connect() handler.
Keep the references balanced in every path:
- On normal exit or an error after publication, smb2_tree_connect()
drops its creator reference. Error cleanup also calls ksmbd_tree_conn_disconnect(), which drops the xarray reference only if it removes the exact entry.
- SMB2 TREE_DISCONNECT uses the same helper to remove the entry and drop
its xarray reference. The request's existing lookup reference remains owned by the request and is released by the existing cleanup.
- Session LOGOFF removes each entry and drops its xarray reference. If
it wins the race, later cleanup sees that the entry is gone and does not drop that reference again.
To enforce this ownership, claim the disconnected state and erase the exact entry atomically under tree_conns_lock. This guarantees one drop for the xarray reference and one drop by each in-flight user, regardless of which teardown path wins. If logoff removes the entry before initialization completes, fail the connect instead of marking the detached object TREE_CONNECTED.
Articles & Coverage 1
AnalysisAI
A use-after-free in the Linux kernel's in-kernel ksmbd SMB3 server allows an authenticated attacker with an established SMB2 session to race an SMB2 TREE_CONNECT request against a concurrent session LOGOFF, so the tree-connection object is freed while smb2_tree_connect() is still initializing it and building the response. Successful triggering yields memory corruption in kernel context that can be leveraged for both confidentiality and integrity impact (KASAN reports slab-use-after-free at fs/smb/server/smb2pdu.c:2872). …
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Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata
Vulnerability AssessmentAI
| Exploitation | Exploitation requires the target Linux host to be running the ksmbd in-kernel SMB3 server (CONFIG_SMB_SERVER) with an active export, and the attacker must be able to establish an SMB2 session - so authentication is required unless the share permits guest/null sessions. … Additional conditions and limiting factors are described in the full assessment. |
| Risk Assessment | The input CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H = 9.8) is the Linux kernel CNA's characteristic auto-assigned maximal score and is over-stated for this bug. … Full risk analysis with EPSS, KEV, and SSVC signal comparison available after sign-in. |
| Exploit Scenario | Full exploit scenario with step-by-step reproduction available after sign-in. |
| Remediation | Vendor-released patches are available: the fix commits https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4e30fbd26e84efa2e5cbec4eb11e126ac0c79313 and https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b5ec6c462aab1062cf5d1e667ba7c6442f737055 should be applied via the corresponding Linux stable updates (EUVD version data references Linux 7.2.6 and 7.3-rc2, with backports for the 5.15.x, 6.1.x and 6.6.x stable lines); confirm the running kernel package version contains the fix and reboot, since ksmbd runs in-kernel. … Detailed patch versions, workarounds, and compensating controls in full report. |
Recommended ActionAI
Within 24 hours, inventory all Linux hosts running the in-kernel ksmbd SMB3 server and confirm which of them expose SMB beyond a trusted network segment; where ksmbd is enabled but unused, disable it or block SMB at the perimeter as a stopgap. …
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-80309
GHSA-29wc-2986-775f