CVE-2026-98978

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

namespace: never expire a locked mount

Locked mounts are special. They protect the underlying files and directories from being revealed. do_umount() refuses to unmount locked mounts but shrink_submounts() doesnt.

A shrinkable mount can become locked once the owner of a user namespace puts it beneath a locked mount with MOVE_MOUNT_BENEATH. The locked property now moves to the mount at the bottom making it possible to unmount the top mount.

So umount() of an unlocked ancestor now expires the bottom mount first and the covered directory is revealed:

move_mount(c -> x/hidden, MOVE_MOUNT_BENEATH) = 0 the cover after the lock moved: umount2(x/hidden) = 0 the holder of the lock: umount2(x/hidden) = EINVAL the root of the copy, busy: umount2(x) = EBUSY reads x/hidden/secret: covered-by-root

So leave a locked mount alone as it dies together with its parent. A plain umount() of an unlocked mount with a locked one below it is EBUSY from now on. Its the same for any other locked child. A lazy umount still takes the whole tree.

mark_mounts_for_expiry() never sees a locked mount. lock_mnt_tree() leaves a mount on an expiry list alone and nothing else puts a locked one on such a list. Add an assert for this.

Affected Software

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b8dc3713a76346d212abab46cbfc8d7070f534c
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d23265a12e4991ce7aedce670c0b6b598cadb644
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f78ddcc872248c7aa1d7e904928441a0be4c6d5d