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Critical · 9.8 Public exploit CVE-2026-72422 EUVD-2026-59321GHSA-2r52-5q5c-m3mp

ksmbd: fix use-after-free of conn->preauth_info in concurrent SMB2 NEGOTIATE

Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 17, 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-7.0 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-7.0 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-6.17 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.8 Package: linux-azure-fde-7.0 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-7.0 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-7.0 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-7.0 Package: linux-nvidia-bos 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-oem-7.0 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-oracle-7.0 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-riscv-7.0 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:

ksmbd: fix use-after-free of conn->preauth_info in concurrent SMB2 NEGOTIATE

conn->preauth_info is shared connection state (struct
preauth_integrity_info, kmalloc-96) that is allocated and freed by the
SMB2 NEGOTIATE handler and read by the response send path.

smb2_handle_negotiate() allocates conn->preauth_info, and on a
deassemble_neg_contexts() failure kfrees it and sets it to NULL. Both the
allocation and the free/NULL happen under ksmbd_conn_lock(conn) (the
connection srv_mutex), which is held across the whole handler body.

The response send path smb3_preauth_hash_rsp(), called from the send:
block of __handle_ksmbd_work(), reads conn->preauth_info and dereferences
conn->preauth_info->Preauth_HashValue (via
ksmbd_gen_preauth_integrity_hash()) without taking conn_lock. When a
client drives two SMB2 NEGOTIATE requests on the same connection, one
worker can free conn->preauth_info on the failing-negotiate path while a
concurrent send-path worker is reading it, producing a slab
use-after-free read (KASAN-confirmed).

The send-path read tested conn->preauth_info for NULL but raced with the
free that occurs between the NULL check and the dereference, so the NULL
guard alone does not close the window.

Serialize the NEGOTIATE-branch read in smb3_preauth_hash_rsp() under
ksmbd_conn_lock(conn) and re-check conn->preauth_info inside the lock.
Because the negotiate handler holds conn_lock across its kfree + NULL
assignment, a reader that also takes conn_lock either runs fully before
the allocation or fully after the NULL store, and can never observe the
freed-but-not-yet-NULLed pointer. ksmbd_gen_preauth_integrity_hash()
takes no locks itself (it only computes a SHA-512 over the buffer), so
no lock-ordering inversion is introduced, and conn_lock is a sleepable
mutex which is safe on this send path (it already performs network I/O).

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.15.61 – < 5.15.212, 5.18.18 – < 5.19, 5.19.2 – < 5.20, 6.0 5.15.212

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 7.1.5-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.12.100-1 —
Debian 12 linux 6.1.180-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS linux-bluefield 6.8.0-1033.38 —
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 22.04 LTS linux-bluefield 5.15.0-1101.103 —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux 7.0.0-34.34 USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-aws +1 7.0.0-1013.13 USN-8816-2, USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure 7.0.0-1017.17 USN-8888-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 7.0.0-1016.16 USN-8888-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gke 7.0.0-1007.8 USN-8816-4
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-ibm +1 7.0.0-1014.14 USN-8816-2, USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia 7.0.0-1025.26 USN-9043-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia-bos 7.0.0-2022.23 USN-9003-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-oracle 7.0.0-1012.12 USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-raspi 7.0.0-1020.20 USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-riscv +1 7.0.0-34.34.1 USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux 6.8.0-147.147 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws +1 6.8.0-1067.70 USN-9024-1, USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws-7.0 +1 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1 USN-8816-2, USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-7.0 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1 USN-8888-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 6.8.0-1069.76 USN-8918-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-7.0 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1 USN-8888-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp +1 6.8.0-1071.79 USN-8918-1, USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gke 6.8.0-1066.74 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gkeop 6.8.0-1052.56 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-7.0 7.0.0-34.34~24.04.1 USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-ibm 6.8.0-1067.68 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 6.8.0-147.147.1 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-7.0 7.0.0-1024.25~24.04.1 USN-9003-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 6.8.0-1067.70.1 USN-9040-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 6.8.0-1035.38 USN-8781-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle 6.8.0-1064.67 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle-7.0 7.0.0-1012.12~24.04.1 USN-8816-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi 6.8.0-1068.72 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +29 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv-7.0 7.0.0-34.34.1~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-vmware 6.8.0-1008.8 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux 5.15.0-198.208 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws 5.15.0-1117.124 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws-6.8 6.8.0-1069.74~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure 5.15.0-1123.132 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-6.8 6.8.0-1073.82~22.04.1 USN-9026-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 5.15.0-1122.131 USN-8876-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-6.8 6.8.0-1071.78~22.04.1 USN-9026-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp 5.15.0-1118.128 USN-8877-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.8 6.8.0-1073.81~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gke 5.15.0-1113.119 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gkeop 5.15.0-1100.108 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-149.149~22.04.1 USN-9066-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm 5.15.0-1111.115 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm-6.8 6.8.0-1069.70~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-intel-iotg 5.15.0-1112.118 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-kvm 5.15.0-1109.114 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 5.15.0-195.205 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-149.149.1~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia 5.15.0-1112.113 USN-8875-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 5.15.0-1070.72 USN-8963-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-igx 5.15.0-1059.59 USN-8963-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle 5.15.0-1114.120 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle-6.8 6.8.0-1067.71~22.04.1 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-raspi 5.15.0-1113.116 USN-9029-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +33 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 5.15.0-1080.84 USN-8875-1
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 6.8.0-2056.58 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime 6.8.1-1062.63 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 5.15.0-1109.111 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime 5.15.0-1116.125 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.8 6.8.1-1064.65~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 6.8.0-1067.70+fips1 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-fips 6.8.0-147.147+fips1 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips +1 6.8.0-1071.79+fips1 USN-8918-1, USN-8917-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 5.15.0-1117.124+fips1 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 5.15.0-1123.132+fips1 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-fips 5.15.0-198.208+fips1 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 5.15.0-1118.128+fips1 USN-8877-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-preview 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-aws-5.15 5.15.0-1117.124~20.04.1 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-azure-5.15 5.15.0-1123.132~20.04.1 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-5.15 5.15.0-1122.131~20.04.1 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-gcp-5.15 5.15.0-1118.128~20.04.1 USN-8878-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-hwe-5.15 5.15.0-198.208~20.04.1 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-ibm-5.15 +1 5.15.0-1111.115~20.04.1 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 5.15.0-1112.118~20.04.1 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 5.15.0-195.205~20.04.1 USN-8875-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 5.15.0-1070.72~20.04.1 USN-8963-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-oracle-5.15 5.15.0-1114.120~20.04.1 USN-8879-1

Public exploits

Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.

Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.

GitHub 1 repository

Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.

Advisories 25

References