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Unscored CVE-2026-43420 EUVD-2026-28726GHSA-8frp-2m2w-wr4j

ceph: fix i_nlink underrun during async unlink

Published May 8, 2026 · Updated Nov 6, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.15 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.17 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-aws-6.8 Package: linux-aws-fips Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.15 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.17 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-6.8 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.15 Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.8 Package: linux-azure-fips Package: linux-azure-nvidia Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-bluefield Package: linux-fips Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.15 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.17 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-6.8 Package: linux-gcp-fips Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.15 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.14 Package: linux-hwe-6.17 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-ibm-5.15 Package: linux-ibm-6.8 Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-intel-iotg Package: linux-intel-iotg-5.15 Package: linux-kvm Package: linux-lowlatency Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.17 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia-lowlatency Package: linux-nvidia-tegra Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-igx Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.14 Package: linux-oem-6.17 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.15 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.17 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-6.8 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.17 Package: linux-realtime-6.8 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.15 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.17 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-riscv-6.8 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Package: linux-xilinx Package: linux-xilinx-zynqmp Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

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

ceph: fix i_nlink underrun during async unlink

During async unlink, we drop the `i_nlink` counter before we receive
the completion (that will eventually update the `i_nlink`) because "we
assume that the unlink will succeed". That is not a bad idea, but it
races against deletions by other clients (or against the completion of
our own unlink) and can lead to an underrun which emits a WARNING like
this one:

WARNING: CPU: 85 PID: 25093 at fs/inode.c:407 drop_nlink+0x50/0x68
Modules linked in:
CPU: 85 UID: 3221252029 PID: 25093 Comm: php-cgi8.1 Not tainted 6.14.11-cm4all1-ampere #655
Hardware name: Supermicro ARS-110M-NR/R12SPD-A, BIOS 1.1b 10/17/2023
pstate: 60400009 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
pc : drop_nlink+0x50/0x68
lr : ceph_unlink+0x6c4/0x720
sp : ffff80012173bc90
x29: ffff80012173bc90 x28: ffff086d0a45aaf8 x27: ffff0871d0eb5680
x26: ffff087f2a64a718 x25: 0000020000000180 x24: 0000000061c88647
x23: 0000000000000002 x22: ffff07ff9236d800 x21: 0000000000001203
x20: ffff07ff9237b000 x19: ffff088b8296afc0 x18: 00000000f3c93365
x17: 0000000000070000 x16: ffff08faffcbdfe8 x15: ffff08faffcbdfec
x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 45445f65645f3037 x12: 34385f6369706f74
x11: 0000a2653104bb20 x10: ffffd85f26d73290 x9 : ffffd85f25664f94
x8 : 00000000000000c0 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000002
x5 : 0000000000000081 x4 : 0000000000000481 x3 : 0000000000000000
x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffff08727d3f91e8
Call trace:
drop_nlink+0x50/0x68 (P)
vfs_unlink+0xb0/0x2e8
do_unlinkat+0x204/0x288
__arm64_sys_unlinkat+0x3c/0x80
invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0x54/0xe8
do_el0_svc+0xa4/0xc8
el0_svc+0x18/0x58
el0t_64_sync_handler+0x104/0x130
el0t_64_sync+0x154/0x158

In ceph_unlink(), a call to ceph_mdsc_submit_request() submits the
CEPH_MDS_OP_UNLINK to the MDS, but does not wait for completion.

Meanwhile, between this call and the following drop_nlink() call, a
worker thread may process a CEPH_CAP_OP_IMPORT, CEPH_CAP_OP_GRANT or
just a CEPH_MSG_CLIENT_REPLY (the latter of which could be our own
completion). These will lead to a set_nlink() call, updating the
`i_nlink` counter to the value received from the MDS. If that new
`i_nlink` value happens to be zero, it is illegal to decrement it
further. But that is exactly what ceph_unlink() will do then.

The WARNING can be reproduced this way:

1. Force async unlink; only the async code path is affected. Having
no real clue about Ceph internals, I was unable to find out why the
MDS wouldn't give me the "Fxr" capabilities, so I patched
get_caps_for_async_unlink() to always succeed.

(Note that the WARNING dump above was found on an unpatched kernel,
without this kludge - this is not a theoretical bug.)

2. Add a sleep call after ceph_mdsc_submit_request() so the unlink
completion gets handled by a worker thread before drop_nlink() is
called. This guarantees that the `i_nlink` is already zero before
drop_nlink() runs.

The solution is to skip the counter decrement when it is already zero,
but doing so without a lock is still racy (TOCTOU). Since
ceph_fill_inode() and handle_cap_grant() both hold the
`ceph_inode_info.i_ceph_lock` spinlock while set_nlink() runs, this
seems like the proper lock to protect the `i_nlink` updates.

I found prior art in NFS and SMB (using `inode.i_lock`) and AFS (using
`afs_vnode.cb_lock`). All three have the zero check as well.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.7 5.10.253

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 6.19.10-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.12.85-1 —
Debian 12 linux 6.1.170-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS linux-bluefield 6.8.0-1028.33 —
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 22.04 LTS linux-bluefield 5.15.0-1096.98 —
Ubuntu 25.10 linux +8 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux 6.8.0-136.136 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws 6.8.0-1061.64 USN-8595-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure 6.8.0-1063.71 USN-8606-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 6.8.0-1062.69 USN-8607-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp 6.8.0-1064.72 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gke 6.8.0-1059.67 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gkeop 6.8.0-1046.50 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-ibm 6.8.0-1061.62 USN-8574-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 6.8.0-136.136.2 USN-8574-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia 6.8.0-1059.62 USN-8596-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 6.8.0-1059.62.1 USN-8596-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 6.8.0-1030.31 USN-8574-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle 6.8.0-1058.61 USN-8574-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi 6.8.0-1061.65 USN-8665-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +27 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-vmware 6.8.0-1008.8 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-xilinx 6.8.0-1033.34 USN-8574-3
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux 5.15.0-186.196 USN-8575-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws 5.15.0-1112.119 USN-8575-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws-6.8 6.8.0-1061.64~22.04.1 USN-8595-3
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure +1 5.15.0-1117.126 USN-8610-1, USN-8575-3
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-6.8 6.8.0-1063.71~22.04.1 USN-8606-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-6.8 6.8.0-1062.69~22.04.1 USN-8609-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp 5.15.0-1112.122 USN-8575-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.8 6.8.0-1064.72~22.04.1 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gke 5.15.0-1108.114 USN-8575-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gkeop 5.15.0-1095.103 USN-8575-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-136.136~22.04.1 USN-8619-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm 5.15.0-1106.110 USN-8575-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm-6.8 6.8.0-1061.62~22.04.1 USN-8574-3
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-intel-iotg 5.15.0-1107.113 USN-8620-4
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-kvm 5.15.0-1104.109 USN-8575-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 5.15.0-184.194 USN-8575-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-136.136.2~22.04.1 USN-8574-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia 5.15.0-1107.108 USN-8575-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 6.8.0-1059.62~22.04.1 USN-8596-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 5.15.0-1064.66 USN-8576-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-igx 5.15.0-1053.53 USN-8576-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle 5.15.0-1109.115 USN-8575-3
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle-6.8 6.8.0-1058.61~22.04.1 USN-8595-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-raspi 5.15.0-1106.109 USN-8668-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv-6.8 6.8.0-136.136~22.04.3 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 5.15.0-1075.79 USN-8575-1
Show 9 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-raspi-realtime 6.8.0-2050.52 USN-8665-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime 6.8.1-1056.57 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 5.15.0-1104.106 USN-8620-3
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime 5.15.0-1111.120 USN-8575-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.8 6.8.1-1056.57~22.04.2 USN-8567-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 6.8.0-1061.64+fips1 USN-8595-3
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 6.8.0-1063.71+fips2 USN-8608-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-fips 6.8.0-136.136+fips2 USN-8574-2
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 6.8.0-1064.72+fips1 USN-8574-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 5.15.0-1112.119+fips1 USN-8575-2
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 5.15.0-1117.126+fips1 USN-8620-2
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-fips 5.15.0-186.196+fips1 USN-8575-2
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 5.15.0-1112.122+fips1 USN-8575-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-preview 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-aws-5.15 5.15.0-1112.119~20.04.1 USN-8575-2
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-azure-5.15 5.15.0-1117.126~20.04.1 USN-8620-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-5.15 5.15.0-1117.126~20.04.2 USN-8620-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-gcp-5.15 5.15.0-1112.122~20.04.1 USN-8668-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-hwe-5.15 5.15.0-186.196~20.04.1 USN-8575-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-ibm-5.15 +1 5.15.0-1106.110~20.04.1 USN-8597-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 5.15.0-1107.113~20.04.1 USN-8620-3
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 5.15.0-184.194~20.04.1 USN-8575-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 5.15.0-1064.66~20.04.1 USN-8576-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-oracle-5.15 5.15.0-1109.115~20.04.1 USN-8620-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP7 cephfs 1.0-150700.15.7.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5111-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-64kb +6 6.4.0-150700.53.66.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2800-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150700.53.66.1.150700.17.39.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2800-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-docs 6.4.0-150700.53.66.2 SUSE-SU-2026:2800-1
Show 4 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-rt +4 6.4.0-49.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22666-1, SUSE-SU-2026:22665-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-rt +4 6.4.0-49.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22522-1, SUSE-SU-2026:22521-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-default 6.4.0-150700.53.66.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2800-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_17 1-150700.1.3.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2799-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_18 1-150700.15.3.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2800-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-rt +2 6.4.0-150700.7.62.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2799-1

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.18.20-20.229 +2 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1681, ALAS2023-2026-1596, ALAS2023-2026-1594
Amazon Linux 2023 perf +14 1:6.1.168-202.320.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1681
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.12 +14 1:6.12.79-101.147.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1594
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.18 +14 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1596

Oracle Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Oracle Linux 9 kernel-uek +34 6.12.0-204.92.4.2.el10uek ELSA-2026-50372

Advisories 39

References