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

ksmbd: validate num_aces and harden ACE walk in smb_inherit_dacl()

smb_inherit_dacl() trusts the on-disk num_aces value from the parent
directory's DACL xattr and uses it to size a heap allocation:

aces_base = kmalloc(sizeof(struct smb_ace) * num_aces * 2, ...);

num_aces is a u16 read from le16_to_cpu(parent_pdacl->num_aces)
without checking that it is consistent with the declared pdacl_size.
An authenticated client whose parent directory's security.NTACL is
tampered (e.g. via offline xattr corruption or a concurrent path that
bypasses parse_dacl()) can present num_aces = 65535 with minimal
actual ACE data. This causes a ~8 MB allocation (not kzalloc, so
uninitialized) that the subsequent loop only partially populates, and
may also overflow the three-way size_t multiply on 32-bit kernels.

Additionally, the ACE walk loop uses the weaker
offsetof(struct smb_ace, access_req) minimum size check rather than
the minimum valid on-wire ACE size, and does not reject ACEs whose
declared size is below the minimum.

Reproduced on UML + KASAN + LOCKDEP against the real ksmbd code path.
A legitimate mount.cifs client creates a parent directory over SMB
(ksmbd writes a valid security.NTACL xattr), then the NTACL blob on
the backing filesystem is rewritten to set num_aces = 0xFFFF while
keeping the posix_acl_hash bytes intact so ksmbd_vfs_get_sd_xattr()'s
hash check still passes. A subsequent SMB2 CREATE of a child under
that parent drives smb2_open() into smb_inherit_dacl() (share has
"vfs objects = acl_xattr" set), which fails the page allocator:

WARNING: mm/page_alloc.c:5226 at __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x46c/0x9c0
Workqueue: ksmbd-io handle_ksmbd_work
__alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x46c/0x9c0
___kmalloc_large_node+0x68/0x130
__kmalloc_large_node_noprof+0x24/0x70
__kmalloc_noprof+0x4c9/0x690
smb_inherit_dacl+0x394/0x2430
smb2_open+0x595d/0xabe0
handle_ksmbd_work+0x3d3/0x1140

With the patch applied the added guard rejects the tampered value
with -EINVAL before any large allocation runs, smb2_open() falls back
to smb2_create_sd_buffer(), and the child is created with a default
SD. No warning, no splat.

Fix by:

1. Validating num_aces against pdacl_size using the same formula
applied in parse_dacl().

2. Replacing the raw kmalloc(sizeof * num_aces * 2) with
kmalloc_array(num_aces * 2, sizeof(...)) for overflow-safe
allocation.

3. Tightening the per-ACE loop guard to require the minimum valid
ACE size (offsetof(smb_ace, sid) + CIFS_SID_BASE_SIZE) and
rejecting under-sized ACEs, matching the hardening in
smb_check_perm_dacl() and parse_dacl().

v1 -> v2:
- Replace the synthetic test-module splat in the changelog with a
real-path UML + KASAN reproduction driven through mount.cifs and
SMB2 CREATE; Namjae flagged the kcifs3_test_inherit_dacl_old name
in v1 since it does not exist in ksmbd.
- Drop the commit-hash citation from the code comment per Namjae's
review; keep the parse_dacl() pointer.
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Wed, 06 May 2026 20:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses NVD-CWE-noinfo

Sun, 03 May 2026 06:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 8.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}


Sat, 02 May 2026 00:15:00 +0000


Fri, 01 May 2026 14:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: validate num_aces and harden ACE walk in smb_inherit_dacl() smb_inherit_dacl() trusts the on-disk num_aces value from the parent directory's DACL xattr and uses it to size a heap allocation: aces_base = kmalloc(sizeof(struct smb_ace) * num_aces * 2, ...); num_aces is a u16 read from le16_to_cpu(parent_pdacl->num_aces) without checking that it is consistent with the declared pdacl_size. An authenticated client whose parent directory's security.NTACL is tampered (e.g. via offline xattr corruption or a concurrent path that bypasses parse_dacl()) can present num_aces = 65535 with minimal actual ACE data. This causes a ~8 MB allocation (not kzalloc, so uninitialized) that the subsequent loop only partially populates, and may also overflow the three-way size_t multiply on 32-bit kernels. Additionally, the ACE walk loop uses the weaker offsetof(struct smb_ace, access_req) minimum size check rather than the minimum valid on-wire ACE size, and does not reject ACEs whose declared size is below the minimum. Reproduced on UML + KASAN + LOCKDEP against the real ksmbd code path. A legitimate mount.cifs client creates a parent directory over SMB (ksmbd writes a valid security.NTACL xattr), then the NTACL blob on the backing filesystem is rewritten to set num_aces = 0xFFFF while keeping the posix_acl_hash bytes intact so ksmbd_vfs_get_sd_xattr()'s hash check still passes. A subsequent SMB2 CREATE of a child under that parent drives smb2_open() into smb_inherit_dacl() (share has "vfs objects = acl_xattr" set), which fails the page allocator: WARNING: mm/page_alloc.c:5226 at __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x46c/0x9c0 Workqueue: ksmbd-io handle_ksmbd_work __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x46c/0x9c0 ___kmalloc_large_node+0x68/0x130 __kmalloc_large_node_noprof+0x24/0x70 __kmalloc_noprof+0x4c9/0x690 smb_inherit_dacl+0x394/0x2430 smb2_open+0x595d/0xabe0 handle_ksmbd_work+0x3d3/0x1140 With the patch applied the added guard rejects the tampered value with -EINVAL before any large allocation runs, smb2_open() falls back to smb2_create_sd_buffer(), and the child is created with a default SD. No warning, no splat. Fix by: 1. Validating num_aces against pdacl_size using the same formula applied in parse_dacl(). 2. Replacing the raw kmalloc(sizeof * num_aces * 2) with kmalloc_array(num_aces * 2, sizeof(...)) for overflow-safe allocation. 3. Tightening the per-ACE loop guard to require the minimum valid ACE size (offsetof(smb_ace, sid) + CIFS_SID_BASE_SIZE) and rejecting under-sized ACEs, matching the hardening in smb_check_perm_dacl() and parse_dacl(). v1 -> v2: - Replace the synthetic test-module splat in the changelog with a real-path UML + KASAN reproduction driven through mount.cifs and SMB2 CREATE; Namjae flagged the kcifs3_test_inherit_dacl_old name in v1 since it does not exist in ksmbd. - Drop the commit-hash citation from the code comment per Namjae's review; keep the parse_dacl() pointer.
Title ksmbd: validate num_aces and harden ACE walk in smb_inherit_dacl()
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-11T22:14:10.957Z

Reserved: 2026-03-09T15:48:24.132Z

Link: CVE-2026-31706

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-05-01T14:16:20.597

Modified: 2026-05-06T20:27:43.123

Link: CVE-2026-31706

cve-icon Redhat

Severity :

Publid Date: 2026-05-01T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-31706 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-05-06T21:30:12Z