VulnerabilityPublished 19 Jul 2026

CVE-2026-64140: Linux kernel · ksmbd: fix null pointer dereference in proc_show_files()

Source GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 12:55 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 41% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 19 Jul 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.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-3wf5-rcm5-gfqq

What to do

AI-suggested

A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel to add a NULL pointer check in proc_show_files(), preventing the kernel panic. Users should apply the official kernel updates that include this patch once available.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: fix null pointer dereference in proc_show_files() When a SMB2 client opens a file with a durable v2 handle and then issues SMB2 SESSION_LOGOFF, session_fd_check() clears fp->tcon = NULL on the reconnectable file pointer but leaves the fp registered in global_ft.idr until the durable scavenger fires (up to fp->durable_timeout seconds later). During that window any read of /proc/fs/ksmbd/files (mode 0400) panics the kernel because proc_show_files() walks global_ft.idr and unconditionally dereferences fp->tcon->id with no NULL guard. Reproducer requires only a successful SMB2 SESSION_SETUP and a share configured with 'durable handles = yes'. KASAN report on mainline 70390501d194: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000000: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN PTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007] RIP: 0010:proc_show_files+0x118/0x740 Call Trace: proc_show_files+0x118/0x740 seq_read_iter+0x4ef/0xe10 proc_reg_read_iter+0x1b7/0x280 ... Guard the dereference. A durable-disconnected fp legitimately has no tcon; report its tree id as 0 rather than oopsing.

Impact

A local user or process with access to the SMB2 share and the ability to read /proc/fs/ksmbd/files can trigger a kernel panic, resulting in a denial of service (system crash). There is no indication of privilege escalation or code execution from this vulnerability.

Summary

The vulnerability in the Linux kernel ksmbd module involves a null pointer dereference in the proc_show_files() function. When an SMB2 client uses durable v2 handles and logs off, the session_fd_check() function clears the tcon pointer on the reconnectable file pointer but does not remove the file pointer from the global_ft.idr structure immediately. If /proc/fs/ksmbd/files is read during this interval, proc_show_files() dereferences fp->tcon->id without checking for NULL, causing a kernel panic. The fix adds a NULL guard to prevent the dereference and reports the tree id as 0 for durable-disconnected file pointers.

References

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