Bug 2532373 (CVE-2026-89695)

Summary: CVE-2026-89695 kernel: Linux kernel nfsd: Denial of Service via uncapped POSIX ACL count
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Network File System Daemon (nfsd). The `nfsd4_decode_posixacl()` function, responsible for decoding POSIX Access Control Lists (ACLs), does not properly cap the entry count received from a client. A remote attacker can exploit this by sending a specially crafted ACL with an excessively large entry count, leading to unbounded CPU usage during an O(n^2) sorting operation. This can result in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the affected server.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-11 22:37:28 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nfsd: cap decoded POSIX ACL count to bound sort cost

nfsd4_decode_posixacl() reads a u32 entry count off the wire and passes
it straight to posix_acl_alloc() and sort_pacl_range(). The latter is
an O(n^2) bubble sort, so a client-chosen count drives unbounded CPU in
the server's compound processing path.

    nfsd4_decode_posixacl()
      xdr_stream_decode_u32(&count)       /* uncapped u32 */
      posix_acl_alloc(count, GFP_KERNEL)
      sort_pacl_range(*acl, 0, count - 1) /* O(n^2) bubble sort */

The encoder side in the same file already rejects ACLs whose a_count
exceeds NFS_ACL_MAX_ENTRIES, but the decoder introduced in commit
5fc51dfc2eb1 ("NFSD: Add support for XDR decoding POSIX draft ACLs")
omitted the symmetric check.

Fix by rejecting a wire count greater than NFS_ACL_MAX_ENTRIES with
nfserr_inval, before any allocation, so the sort is bounded by
NFS_ACL_MAX_ENTRIES^2 comparisons.

While we're in here, also fix the nfserr_resource return if
posix_acl_alloc() fails. That's not a legal error code for v4.1+. Change
it to return nfserr_jukebox as that's more appropriate for memory
allocation failures.