Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2026-31477)

Summary

Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2026-31477). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Mitigation: upgrade to 6.1.168, 6.6.131, 6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11 or later.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

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

ksmbd: fix memory leaks and NULL deref in smb2_lock()

smb2_lock() has three error handling issues after list_del() detaches
smb_lock from lock_list at no_check_cl:

If vfs_lock_file() returns an unexpected error in the non-UNLOCK
path, goto out leaks smb_lock and its flock because the out:
handler only iterates lock_list and rollback_list, neither of
which contains the detached smb_lock.
If vfs_lock_file() returns -ENOENT in the UNLOCK path, goto out
leaks smb_lock and flock for the same reason. The error code
returned to the dispatcher is also stale.
In the rollback path, smb_flock_init() can return NULL on
allocation failure. The result is dereferenced unconditionally,
causing a kernel NULL pointer dereference. Add a NULL check to
prevent the crash and clean up the bookkeeping; the VFS lock
itself cannot be rolled back without the allocation and will be
released at file or connection teardown.

Fix cases 1 and 2 by hoisting the locks_free_lock()/kfree() to before
the if(!rc) check in the UNLOCK branch so all exit paths share one
free site, and by freeing smb_lock and flock before goto out in the
non-UNLOCK branch. Propagate the correct error code in both cases.
Fix case 3 by wrapping the VFS unlock in an if(rlock) guard and adding
a NULL check for locks_free_lock(rlock) in the shared cleanup.

Found via call-graph analysis using sqry.

Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD OSV

Auto-generated summary

Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.

A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-31477 has been found in Kernel.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
What to do: upgrade Kernel to 6.1.168, 6.6.131, 6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Kernel CVE-2026-31477" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2026-31477 (Kernel)
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Patched: 6.1.168, 6.6.131, 6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in Kernel.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Kernel.

🔥 Severity

Severity: ?. Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.

🔧 How to fix

Update to 6.1.168, 6.6.131, 6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'Kernel' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.

Response actions

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

1
Identify exposure identify
```
grep -r 'Kernel' . | grep -v node_modules
```
リポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で Kernel を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。
2
Apply patch patch
```
Upgrade Kernel to 6.1.168, 6.6.131, 6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11
```
ステージング環境で 6.1.168, 6.6.131, 6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
3
Post-deployment verification verify
```
Confirm patched version is live in production
```
パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

Affected packages

Linux Kernel

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"5.15.0"},{"fixed":"6.1.168"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.2.0"},{"fixed":"6.6.131"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.7.0"},{"fixed":"6.12.80"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.13.0"},{"fixed":"6.18.21"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.19.0"},{"fixed":"6.19.11"}]}]

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

BellSoft Alpaquita BELL-CVE-2026-31477 linux-lts Fixed in: 6.1.168-r0
Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31477 linux Fixed in: 6.1.170-1
Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31477 linux-hwe-edge