CVE-2026-46040
inotify: fix watch count leak when fsnotify_add_inode_mark_locked() fails
At a glance
- Severity
- Not available
- EPSS
- EPSS 0.13 % · percentile 2 (2026-10-27)
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Published
- Updated
- Assigner
- Linux
- NVD status
- Modified
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: inotify: fix watch count leak when fsnotify_add_inode_mark_locked() fails When fsnotify_add_inode_mark_locked() fails in inotify_new_watch(), the error path calls inotify_remove_from_idr() but does not call dec_inotify_watches() to undo the preceding inc_inotify_watches(). This leaks a watch count, and repeated failures can exhaust the max_user_watches limit with -ENOSPC even when no watches are active. Prior to commit 1cce1eea0aff ("inotify: Convert to using per-namespace limits"), the watch count was incremented after fsnotify_add_mark_locked() succeeded, so this path was not affected. The conversion moved inc_inotify_watches() before the mark insertion without adding the corresponding rollback. Add the missing dec_inotify_watches() call in the error path.
Scores
| Version | Score | Vector | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM 5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H | NVD · nvd@nist.gov (Primary) |
European references
- ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-32421
- GCVE · GCVE-0-2026-46040
CERT-FR advisories
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1298 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits Siemens · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1229 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux d'Ubuntu · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1093 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux d'Ubuntu · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1066 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux d'Ubuntu · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1064 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux de SUSE · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1029 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux de SUSE · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0985 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux d'Ubuntu · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0954 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux d'Ubuntu · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0927 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux de SUSE · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0926 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux d'Ubuntu · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0862 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux de Debian LTS · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0861 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux d'Ubuntu · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0831 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux d'Ubuntu · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0731 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits Microsoft · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
Affected configurations (NVD CPE)
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*≥ 4.11 < 5.10.258cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*≥ 5.11 < 5.15.209cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*≥ 5.16 < 6.1.175cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*≥ 6.2 < 6.6.140cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*≥ 6.7 < 6.12.86cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*≥ 6.13 < 6.18.27cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*≥ 6.19 < 7.0.4
Affected products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| Linux · Linux | affected 1cce1eea0aff51201753fcaca421df825b0813b6 < 3ab58cf42c46bf2366d2f55ae5c59299d5e178b7 ; affected 1cce1eea0aff51201753fcaca421df825b0813b6 < 10edf7e0ffdc7faa18e2244b17722c1b882b8273 ; affected 1cce1eea0aff51201753fcaca421df825b0813b6 < 3ad9ccea1b25435f6179b57aa891960beb7ce8f9 ; affected 1cce1eea0aff51201753fcaca421df825b0813b6 < 8bcc1cd237ab5ccfdd102869fa031c541943cf40 ; affected 1cce1eea0aff51201753fcaca421df825b0813b6 < 73ddc8518a32baff6bc17afda4ee1ebae5b4ed12 ; affected 1cce1eea0aff51201753fcaca421df825b0813b6 < fdaa42ca370d056428e5e171247c8fdce8dff36a |
| Linux · Linux | affected 4.11 ; unaffected 0 < 4.11 ; unaffected 5.10.258 ≤ 5.10.* ; unaffected 5.15.209 ≤ 5.15.* ; unaffected 6.1.175 ≤ 6.1.* ; unaffected 6.6.140 ≤ 6.6.* |
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ab58cf42c46bf2366d2f55ae5c59299d5e178b7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/10edf7e0ffdc7faa18e2244b17722c1b882b8273
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ad9ccea1b25435f6179b57aa891960beb7ce8f9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8bcc1cd237ab5ccfdd102869fa031c541943cf40
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/73ddc8518a32baff6bc17afda4ee1ebae5b4ed12
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fdaa42ca370d056428e5e171247c8fdce8dff36a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e48844f708eb48bae4e79cb21edc097c966306d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a320935fa4293e9e599ec9f85dc9eb3be7029f8
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-019113.html
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-457936.html
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-784472.html
Sources
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5) | CVE Program Terms of Use |
| EPSS (FIRST.org) | FIRST — attribution requested |
| ENISA EUVD | ENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged |
| CERT-FR (ANSSI) | Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0 |
| NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feeds | Public domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD |