Critical · published September 12, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ceph: bound num_export_targets array for mds info v2/v3
ceph_mdsmap_decode() in fs/ceph/mdsmap.c reads num_export_targets from
each per-mds info record and advances the decode cursor by
num_export_targets * sizeof(u32) without first checking that many bytes
remain. The only upper-bound check that catches a runaway cursor
(*p > info_end) is gated on info_v >= 4, because info_end is left NULL
for info_v 2 and 3. When the monitor sends an MDS map whose per-mds
info version is 2 or 3 with an oversized num_export_targets, the cursor
moves past the message front buffer and the later export-targets loop
calls the unchecked ceph_decode_32() on out-of-bounds memory.
A kernel client processes CEPH_MSG_MDS_MAP from its monitor session
(net/ceph/mon_client.c dispatches it; fs/ceph/super.c routes it to
ceph_mdsc_handle_mdsmap(), which sets end to the front buffer bound and
calls ceph_mdsmap_decode()). A malicious or compromised monitor, or an
on-path attacker on an unsigned/unencrypted messenger session, can
therefore drive an out-of-bounds read in the client kernel; on x86_64
with KASAN it is reported as a slab-out-of-bounds read in
ceph_mdsmap_decode(). The decoded values land in the internal
info->export_targets[] array, so the consequence is a kernel
out-of-bounds read, not an information leak to the attacker.
Impact: a malicious or compromised Ceph monitor sending an MDS map with
a per-mds info version of 2 or 3 and an oversized num_export_targets
field triggers an out-of-bounds read in the CephFS client kernel.
Add a ceph_decode_need() for the export-targets array before advancing
the cursor, so the bound is enforced for every info_v >= 2, not only
info_v >= 4. This mirrors the count-then-need idiom already used for
m_data_pg_pools later in the same function.
Compute the export-targets byte count with size_mul() and reuse that
checked length when advancing the cursor, so the attacker-controlled
num_export_targets multiplication fails closed on overflow rather than
relying on the later kcalloc() guard.