VulnerabilityPublished 25 Jul 2026

CVE-2026-64398: Linux kernel · ksmbd: add a permission check for FSCTL_SET_ZERO_DATA

Source GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.1 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.1High

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 39% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: High
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: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
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: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to 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 25 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-ch49-xqcg-99vv

What to do

AI-suggested

A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel to add the missing permission check for FSCTL_SET_ZERO_DATA, requiring FILE_WRITE_DATA permission for this operation. Users should apply the official kernel update that includes this patch.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: add a permission check for FSCTL_SET_ZERO_DATA FSCTL_SET_ZERO_DATA in smb2_ioctl() destroys file data via ksmbd_vfs_zero_data() -> vfs_fallocate(PUNCH_HOLE/ZERO_RANGE) after checking only the share-level KSMBD_TREE_CONN_FLAG_WRITABLE, with no per-handle access check. A handle opened with only FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES still yields an FMODE_WRITE filp (FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES is part of FILE_WRITE_DESIRE_ACCESS_LE, so smb2_create_open_flags() opens it O_WRONLY), so the vfs_fallocate FMODE_WRITE check does not stop it; only the missing fp->daccess gate would. Reproduced on mainline 7.1-rc7 with KASAN by an authenticated SMB client: a FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES-only handle zeroed 4096 bytes of file data it had no FILE_WRITE_DATA right to (6/6; a FILE_READ_DATA-only handle was correctly denied). This is the unfixed sibling of commit cc57232cae23 ("ksmbd: fix FSCTL permission bypass by adding a permission check for FSCTL_SET_SPARSE"). Because SET_ZERO_DATA writes data (not an attribute), require FILE_WRITE_DATA.

Impact

An authenticated SMB client with insufficient permissions (FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES but not FILE_WRITE_DATA) could destroy file data by zeroing it out, potentially leading to data loss or corruption. This bypasses intended access control mechanisms in the ksmbd SMB server implementation within the Linux kernel.

Summary

The Linux kernel's ksmbd module had a vulnerability (CVE-2026-64398) where the FSCTL_SET_ZERO_DATA ioctl operation did not enforce per-handle access checks properly. Specifically, a handle opened with only FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES permission was able to invoke vfs_fallocate with FMODE_WRITE flags to zero file data, bypassing intended access restrictions. This was due to the absence of a check on the file pointer's daccess permissions, allowing unauthorized data modification. The vulnerability was reproducible on mainline kernel 7.1-rc7 with KASAN by an authenticated SMB client. The fix requires that FSCTL_SET_ZERO_DATA operations demand FILE_WRITE_DATA permission, aligning with the fact that this operation modifies file data rather than attributes.

References

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