CVE-2026-74343: Linux kernel · kernfs: fix xattr race condition with multiple superblocks
Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 5% 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:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 17 Aug 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
AI-suggested
A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel that protects xattr operations with a hashed mutex array to serialize concurrent modifications safely. Users should apply the official kernel updates that include this patch. Since no vendor advisory or patch links are provided, check the Linux kernel official repositories or distributions for the relevant fix.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kernfs: fix xattr race condition with multiple superblocks Multiple superblocks with different namespaces can share the same kernfs_node when kernfs_test_super() finds a matching root but different namespace. This means multiple inodes from different superblocks can reference the same kernfs_node->iattr->xattrs structure. The VFS layer only holds per-inode locks during xattr operations, which is insufficient to serialize concurrent xattr modifications on the shared kernfs_node. This can lead to race conditions in simple_xattr_set() where the lookup->replace/remove sequence is not atomic with respect to operations from other superblocks. Fix this by protecting xattr operations with the existing hashed kernfs_locks->open_file_mutex[] array, which is already used to protect per-node open file data. The hashed mutex array provides scalable per-node serialization (scaled by CPU count, up to 1024 locks on 32+ CPU systems) with zero memory overhead. Changes: - Rename open_file_mutex[] to node_mutex[] to reflect dual purpose - Add kernfs_node_lock_ptr() and kernfs_node_lock() helpers - Protect simple_xattr_set() calls in kernfs_xattr_set() and kernfs_vfs_user_xattr_set() with the hashed mutex - Update file.c to use new helpers via compatibility wrappers - Update documentation to explain the extended lock usage
References
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74343 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a07814ff643b5c8e1353d8c6229f52fde205cde (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf53db51359939755084d08156684ed649489592 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-74343 (opens in a new tab)
- cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74343 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/linus/6a07814ff643b5c8e1353d8c6229f52fde205cde (opens in a new tab)