High · published September 25, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
landlock: Fix use-after-free of the source's parent directory
current_check_refer_path() reads old_dentry->d_parent without holding a
reference nor a lock on it, and then dereferences it in
collect_domain_accesses() and in the audit record.
A reference on a child does not pin its parent: __d_move() reassigns
dentry->d_parent and drops the reference the child held on its former
parent. hook_path_rename() is not affected because the rename path
calls lock_rename() before the hook, so the source cannot be reparented
under it. hook_path_link() has no such protection: filename_linkat()
holds a reference on the source dentry but neither locks nor references
its parent, so a concurrent rename(2) can reparent the source while
security_path_link() runs, and the former parent can then be removed and
freed while the hook walks it.
A process can trigger this after entering a Landlock domain that handles
at least one filesystem access right. The process can then race a
linkat(2) loop against rename(2) and rmdir(2):
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in collect_domain_accesses+0x278/0x290
Read of size 4 at addr ffff888160bd53f4 by task llrepro2/549
collect_domain_accesses+0x278/0x290
current_check_refer_path+0x952/0x1120
security_path_link+0x1be/0x320
filename_linkat+0x342/0x6d0
__x64_sys_linkat+0xfa/0x150
Freed by task 562:
kmem_cache_free+0x139/0x4c0
i_callback+0x4b/0x80
rcu_core+0x7dc/0x10a0
Take a reference on the dentry selected as the source parent, using
dget() for the common-mount-root case and dget_parent() otherwise.
Release it after the hierarchy walk and synchronous audit logging.
[mic: Clarify the caller, reachability, and reference handling]