Linux Kernel NFSD Export Put UAF before RCU grace period
CVE-2026-31404 Published on April 3, 2026
NFSD: Defer sub-object cleanup in export put callbacks
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
NFSD: Defer sub-object cleanup in export put callbacks
svc_export_put() calls path_put() and auth_domain_put() immediately
when the last reference drops, before the RCU grace period. RCU
readers in e_show() and c_show() access both ex_path (via
seq_path/d_path) and ex_client->name (via seq_escape) without
holding a reference. If cache_clean removes the entry and drops the
last reference concurrently, the sub-objects are freed while still
in use, producing a NULL pointer dereference in d_path.
Commit 2530766492ec ("nfsd: fix UAF when access ex_uuid or
ex_stats") moved kfree of ex_uuid and ex_stats into the
call_rcu callback, but left path_put() and auth_domain_put() running
before the grace period because both may sleep and call_rcu
callbacks execute in softirq context.
Replace call_rcu/kfree_rcu with queue_rcu_work(), which defers the
callback until after the RCU grace period and executes it in process
context where sleeping is permitted. This allows path_put() and
auth_domain_put() to be moved into the deferred callback alongside
the other resource releases. Apply the same fix to expkey_put(),
which has the identical pattern with ek_path and ek_client.
A dedicated workqueue scopes the shutdown drain to only NFSD
export release work items; flushing the shared
system_unbound_wq would stall on unrelated work from other
subsystems. nfsd_export_shutdown() uses rcu_barrier() followed
by flush_workqueue() to ensure all deferred release callbacks
complete before the export caches are destroyed.
Reviwed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org>
Products Associated with CVE-2026-31404
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Affected Versions
Linux:- Version c224edca7af028828e2ad866b61d731b5e72b46d and below 2829e80d29b627886d12b5ea40856d56b516e67d is affected.
- Version c224edca7af028828e2ad866b61d731b5e72b46d and below f5ab1bec5fa18731e0b1b1e60c9a68667ac73ea2 is affected.
- Version c224edca7af028828e2ad866b61d731b5e72b46d and below 48db892356d6cb80f6942885545de4a6dd8d2a29 is affected.
- Version 6.14 is affected.
- Before 6.14 is unaffected.
- Version 6.18.20, <= 6.18.* is unaffected.
- Version 6.19.10, <= 6.19.* is unaffected.
- Version 7.0-rc5, <= * is unaffected.