CVE-2026-72318

cifs: validate DFS referral string offsets

Published Aug 15, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 9.4 Critical EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

cifs: validate DFS referral string offsets

parse_dfs_referrals() validates that the response header and referral
array fit in the received buffer, but each referral also contains string
offsets supplied by the server.

Those offsets are used to compute the DfsPath and NetworkAddress string
pointers without checking whether they still point inside the response
buffer. A malformed referral can therefore make the computed pointer
exceed the end of the buffer. The resulting negative max_len is then
passed to cifs_strndup_from_utf16(), and the non-Unicode path forwards it
to kstrndup() as a size_t, allowing strnlen() to read out of bounds.

Validate each string offset before deriving the string pointer.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8781-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA Tegra) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8816-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8816-2 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8816-3 Linux kernel (Oracle) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8816-4 Linux kernel (GKE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8888-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8888-2 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8917-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8918-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9003-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9024-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9025-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9026-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9040-1 Linux kernel (Low Latency NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9043-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9066-1 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-125
CWE-20
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-125
CWE-20
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.4, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-125
CWE-20
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: validate DFS referral string offsets parse_dfs_referrals() validates that the response header and referral array fit in the received buffer, but each referral also contains string offsets supplied by the server. Those offsets are used to compute the DfsPath and NetworkAddress string pointers without checking whether they still point inside the response buffer. A malformed referral can therefore make the computed pointer exceed the end of the buffer. The resulting negative max_len is then passed to cifs_strndup_from_utf16(), and the non-Unicode path forwards it to kstrndup() as a size_t, allowing strnlen() to read out of bounds. Validate each string offset before deriving the string pointer.
Title cifs: validate DFS referral string offsets
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Oct 16, 2026, 6:55 PM
Reserved
Aug 9, 2026, 3:40 AM
Status
Received
Published
Aug 15, 2026, 6:22 AM
Modified
Oct 16, 2026, 7:17 PM
Severity
Important
Public date
Aug 15, 2026, 12:00 AM