Bug 2552216 (CVE-2026-98388)

Summary:	CVE-2026-98388 kernel: exec: do_close_on_exec() before taking exec_update_lock
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	medium	Docs Contact:
Priority:	medium
Version:	unspecified	CC:	akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone:	---	Keywords:	Security
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	---
Doc Text:	A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. During program execution, the kernel closes file descriptors marked for close-on-exec while holding an internal process state lock. If closing a file descriptor stalls on an unresponsive or user-space filesystem, the lock remains held and blocks related system operations. A local attacker can exploit this behavior to trigger a deadlock, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).	Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:		Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-14 13:46:39 UTC

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

exec: do_close_on_exec() before taking exec_update_lock

do_close_on_exec() currently happens while holding the exec_update_lock,
which is used in a lot of places that access process state to
synchronize access checks.
I recently added another such use of exec_update_lock, causing a
regression.

do_close_on_exec() can block waiting for a reply from a filesystem.
That means a hung filesystem can block codepaths that use
exec_update_lock; and it also means that a FUSE filesystem which
attempts to inspect the calling process can deadlock.

To avoid such problems, move do_close_on_exec() before the
exec_update_lock is taken, but after the FD table has been copied if
necessary.

I have looked through all the calls between the old and new position of
the do_close_on_exec() call; there seems to be no file descriptor table
access in between.