CVE-2026-31446 | ext4: fix use-after-free in update_super_work when racing with umount

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix use-after-free in update_super_work when racing with umount Commit b98535d09179 ("ext4: fix bug_on in start_this_handle during umount filesystem") moved ext4_unregister_sysfs() before flushing s_sb_upd_work to prevent new error work from being queued via /proc/fs/ext4/xx/mb_groups reads during unmount. However, this introduced a use-after-free because update_super_work calls ext4_notify_error_sysfs() -> sysfs_notify() which accesses the kobject's kernfs_node after it has been freed by kobject_del() in ext4_unregister_sysfs(): update_super_work ext4_put_super ----------------- -------------- ext4_unregister_sysfs(sb) kobject_del(&sbi->s_kobj) __kobject_del() sysfs_remove_dir() kobj->sd = NULL sysfs_put(sd) kernfs_put() // RCU free ext4_notify_error_sysfs(sbi) sysfs_notify(&sbi->s_kobj) kn = kobj->sd // stale pointer kernfs_get(kn) // UAF on freed kernfs_node ext4_journal_destroy() flush_work(&sbi->s_sb_upd_work) Instead of reordering the teardown sequence, fix this by making ext4_notify_error_sysfs() detect that sysfs has already been torn down by checking s_kobj.state_in_sysfs, and skipping the sysfs_notify() call in that case. A dedicated mutex (s_error_notify_mutex) serializes ext4_notify_error_sysfs() against kobject_del() in ext4_unregister_sysfs() to prevent TOCTOU races where the kobject could be deleted between the state_in_sysfs check and the sysfs_notify() call.

Published: 2026-04-22 Last update: 2026-05-07 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-31446 is rated Low Risk (33.6/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-31446

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-23 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-31446

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-31446

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-31446

GHSA-wwvq-j7g5-3qrf · Severity: high — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix use-after-free in...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-31446

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-31446 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (linux, linux-6.1), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-31446
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-31446
suse medium CVE-2026-31446 severity moderate: SUSE including 16 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 58 product×package rows across 12 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5, SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.0, … (12 product lines)): Known Not Affected 58. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-31446/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-31446 medium priority: Ubuntu including 161 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1449 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1048, ignored 169, needed 88, released 83, not-affected 57, needs-triage 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-31446

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-31446

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.10.114, < 5.11 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.15.38, < 5.15.203 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.17.6, < 5.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.18.1, < 6.1.168 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.131 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.80 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.21 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 6.19.11 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc9:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-31446

cvelogic Threat Intelligence