Bug 2559653 (CVE-2026-98921)

Summary: CVE-2026-98921 kernel: ovl: fix UAF in ovl_do_mkdir() debug print
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, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's OverlayFS subsystem. When debug logging is enabled, a directory creation operation can trigger a use-after-free condition by referencing a directory entry that has already been released by the virtual file system. A local user could exploit this flaw to crash the system, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS), or potentially corrupt kernel memory.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-23 12:52:59 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ovl: fix UAF in ovl_do_mkdir() debug print

ovl_do_mkdir() prints the input dentry with %pd after vfs_mkdir().
Since commit fe497f0759e0 ("VFS: change vfs_mkdir() to unlock on
failure."), vfs_mkdir() calls end_creating() on the input dentry on
failure and may replace it on success, so the post-call %pd can
use-after-free the dentry when CONFIG_OVERLAY_FS_DEBUG is enabled.

Print the dentry before the call and only the result afterward.