CVE-2026-74342
Received Received - Intake

BaseFortify

Publication date: 2026-08-15

Last updated on: 2026-08-15

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kernfs: link kn to its parent before the LSM init hook After commit 12e9e3cd03b5 ("simpe_xattr: use per-sb cache"), kernfs_xattr_set() and kernfs_xattr_get() compute the cache via kernfs_root(kn) before any other check. kernfs_root(kn) walks kn->__parent first and falls back to kn->dir.root, both of which are NULL on a freshly kmem_cache_zalloc()'d kn. kn->__parent was being set in kernfs_new_node() after __kernfs_new_node() returned, and kn->dir.root is set even later by kernfs_create_dir_ns() / kernfs_create_empty_dir(). The LSM kernfs_init_security hook is invoked from inside __kernfs_new_node(), before either field has been initialized. selinux_kernfs_init_security() ends with kernfs_xattr_set(kn, XATTR_NAME_SELINUX, ...). kernfs_root(kn) then returns NULL, and &((struct kernfs_root *)NULL)->xa_cache evaluates to offsetof(struct kernfs_root, xa_cache) which faults: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000e0 RIP: 0010:simple_xattr_set+0x27/0x8b0 Call Trace: kernfs_xattr_set+0x63/0xb0 selinux_kernfs_init_security+0x13b/0x270 security_kernfs_init_security+0x36/0xc0 __kernfs_new_node+0x182/0x290 kernfs_new_node+0x80/0xc0 kernfs_create_dir_ns+0x2b/0xa0 cgroup_create+0x116/0x380 cgroup_mkdir+0x7c/0x1a0 Reproduces deterministically at PID 1 (systemd) on an SELinux-enabled distro. The first cgroup mkdir under /sys/fs/cgroup with a labelled parent panics the kernel. The LSM hook's contract is that the kn_dir argument is the parent of the new kn, so kn->__parent should already point at kn_dir when the hook runs. Move kernfs_get(parent) and rcu_assign_pointer of kn->__parent from kernfs_new_node() into __kernfs_new_node() right before the security hook, and unwind the parent reference on the err_out4 path. kernfs_root(kn) then takes its parent branch during the hook and returns parent->dir.root, which is the correct root. This also closes the same-shape latent bug in kernfs_xattr_get() (which today is hidden only by kernfs_iattrs_noalloc() returning NULL on a fresh kn).

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-15
Last Modified
2026-08-15
Generated
2026-08-15
AI Q&A
2026-08-15
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-74342
EUVD
EUVD-2026-59489

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel *

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Exploitability

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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel involves a race condition where a kernel filesystem (kernfs) node's parent pointer is not set before a Linux Security Module (LSM) hook is called. This causes a NULL pointer dereference when the LSM tries to access the node's cache, leading to a kernel panic.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability causes a kernel panic during cgroup directory creation on SELinux-enabled systems. Detection involves monitoring for kernel crashes or checking system logs for NULL pointer dereference errors during cgroup operations. No specific commands are provided in the context to detect this issue proactively.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause a system crash (kernel panic) when creating a cgroup directory under /sys/fs/cgroup on SELinux-enabled Linux distributions. It affects PID 1 (systemd) and may lead to system instability or denial of service.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply the Linux kernel patch that resolves this issue. Since this is a kernel-level vulnerability, updating to a patched kernel version is the primary mitigation. Avoid creating cgroups under /sys/fs/cgroup until the patch is applied to prevent kernel panics.

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