# CVE-2026-98979: namespace: refuse an automount below a mount that is in no namespace CVE-2026-98979 is fixed in 19 products on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98979, released October 24, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine. - Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98979 - Priority: Routine - CVSS: 5.5 (Moderate) - EPSS: 0.0021 - CISA KEV: not listed - Exploited (vendor report): no - Publicly disclosed: no - Published: Oct 23, 2026 - Vendor advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98979 ## Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: namespace: refuse an automount below a mount that is in no namespace It's possible to add autmounts even when the parent mount isn't in the mount namespace of the caller. The only requirement we have is that the parent mount namespace must not be NULL, i.e., unmounted. Problem is that clone_private_mount() has MNT_NS_INTERNAL which makes that trivially true. So that passes the test and attach_recursive_mnt() accepts that as a mount point and funny enough, count_mounts() dereferences MNT_NS_INTERNAL. The problem is it is an error pointer... So we can reach this in userspace via fanotify. A filesystem mark on the lower filesystem of an overlay reports paths on the layer clone and reading the event hands out a descriptor on it. For example with debugfs as the lower layer it goes kaboom: openat(evfd, "tracing", O_DIRECTORY) Oops: general protection fault KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x1d0-0x1d7] RIP: 0010:count_mounts+0x35/0x200 attach_recursive_mnt finish_automount And since that sleeping beauty happens under namespace_sem held for writing every mount operation on the system blocks from then on. Congrats. Use is_mounted() instead which rejects unmounted and internal mounts alike. The open fails with EINVAL just as it did before clone_private_mount() used MNT_NS_INTERNAL. ## Where it's fixed | Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released | |---|---|---|---|---| | Linux | bpftool6.12 amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | bpftool6.12-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-livepatch-6.12.113-138.209 amzn 2023 | 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12 amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12-debuginfo-common-aarch64 amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12-debuginfo-common-x86_64 amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12-devel amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12-headers amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12-modules-extra amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12-modules-extra-common amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12-tools amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12-tools-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel6.12-tools-devel amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | linux Debian 13.5 (trixie) | 6.12.113-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98979](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-98979.md) | Oct 24, 2026 | | Linux | linux Debian 14 | 7.2.11-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98979](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-98979.md) | Oct 24, 2026 | | Linux | perf6.12 amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | perf6.12-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | python3-perf6.12 amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | python3-perf6.12-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.12.113-138.209.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-3335](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-3335.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | --- Data as of 2026-11-09T13:31:49Z UTC. 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