CVE-2026-23297: Linux kernel · nfsd: Fix cred ref leak in nfsd_nl_threads_set_doit().
Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 2% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 25.10linuxpkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=questingOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 25.10linux-awspkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=questingOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 25.10linux-azurepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=questingOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 25.10linux-azure-fdepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=questingOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 25.10linux-gcppkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=questingOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 25.10linux-oraclepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-oracle?arch=source&distro=questingOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfsd: Fix cred ref leak in nfsd_nl_threads_set_doit(). syzbot reported memory leak of struct cred. [0] nfsd_nl_threads_set_doit() passes get_current_cred() to nfsd_svc(), but put_cred() is not called after that. The cred is finally passed down to _svc_xprt_create(), which calls get_cred() with the cred for struct svc_xprt. The ownership of the refcount by get_current_cred() is not transferred to anywhere and is just leaked. nfsd_svc() is also called from write_threads(), but it does not bump file->f_cred there. nfsd_nl_threads_set_doit() is called from sendmsg() and current->cred does not go away. Let's use current_cred() in nfsd_nl_threads_set_doit(). [0]: BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888108b89480 (size 184): comm "syz-executor", pid 5994, jiffies 4294943386 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace (crc 369454a7): kmemleak_alloc_recursive include/linux/kmemleak.h:44 [inline] slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slub.c:4958 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:5263 [inline] kmem_cache_alloc_noprof+0x412/0x580 mm/slub.c:5270 prepare_creds+0x22/0x600 kernel/cred.c:185 copy_creds+0x44/0x290 kernel/cred.c:286 copy_process+0x7a7/0x2870 kernel/fork.c:2086 kernel_clone+0xac/0x6e0 kernel/fork.c:2651 __do_sys_clone+0x7f/0xb0 kernel/fork.c:2792 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xa4/0xf80 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
References
- ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-23297 (opens in a new tab)
- cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23297 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/linus/1cb968a2013ffa8112d52ebe605009ea1c6a582c (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/1cb968a2013ffa8112d52ebe605009ea1c6a582c (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/27c13c5bb0948e3b5c64e59f8a903231896fab9b (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/41170716421c25cd20b39e83f0e0762e212b377b (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/a3f88e3e18b51a7f654189189c762ebcdeaa7e29 (opens in a new tab)