{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-43420","assignerOrgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","state":"PUBLISHED","assignerShortName":"Linux","dateReserved":"2026-05-01T14:12:56.008Z","datePublished":"2026-05-08T14:21:55.717Z","dateUpdated":"2026-05-11T22:24:14.623Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"providerMetadata":{"orgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","shortName":"Linux","dateUpdated":"2026-05-11T22:24:14.623Z"},"descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nceph: fix i_nlink underrun during async unlink\n\nDuring async unlink, we drop the `i_nlink` counter before we receive\nthe completion (that will eventually update the `i_nlink`) because \"we\nassume that the unlink will succeed\".  That is not a bad idea, but it\nraces against deletions by other clients (or against the completion of\nour own unlink) and can lead to an underrun which emits a WARNING like\nthis one:\n\n WARNING: CPU: 85 PID: 25093 at fs/inode.c:407 drop_nlink+0x50/0x68\n Modules linked in:\n CPU: 85 UID: 3221252029 PID: 25093 Comm: php-cgi8.1 Not tainted 6.14.11-cm4all1-ampere #655\n Hardware name: Supermicro ARS-110M-NR/R12SPD-A, BIOS 1.1b 10/17/2023\n pstate: 60400009 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)\n pc : drop_nlink+0x50/0x68\n lr : ceph_unlink+0x6c4/0x720\n sp : ffff80012173bc90\n x29: ffff80012173bc90 x28: ffff086d0a45aaf8 x27: ffff0871d0eb5680\n x26: ffff087f2a64a718 x25: 0000020000000180 x24: 0000000061c88647\n x23: 0000000000000002 x22: ffff07ff9236d800 x21: 0000000000001203\n x20: ffff07ff9237b000 x19: ffff088b8296afc0 x18: 00000000f3c93365\n x17: 0000000000070000 x16: ffff08faffcbdfe8 x15: ffff08faffcbdfec\n x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 45445f65645f3037 x12: 34385f6369706f74\n x11: 0000a2653104bb20 x10: ffffd85f26d73290 x9 : ffffd85f25664f94\n x8 : 00000000000000c0 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000002\n x5 : 0000000000000081 x4 : 0000000000000481 x3 : 0000000000000000\n x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffff08727d3f91e8\n Call trace:\n  drop_nlink+0x50/0x68 (P)\n  vfs_unlink+0xb0/0x2e8\n  do_unlinkat+0x204/0x288\n  __arm64_sys_unlinkat+0x3c/0x80\n  invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0x54/0xe8\n  do_el0_svc+0xa4/0xc8\n  el0_svc+0x18/0x58\n  el0t_64_sync_handler+0x104/0x130\n  el0t_64_sync+0x154/0x158\n\nIn ceph_unlink(), a call to ceph_mdsc_submit_request() submits the\nCEPH_MDS_OP_UNLINK to the MDS, but does not wait for completion.\n\nMeanwhile, between this call and the following drop_nlink() call, a\nworker thread may process a CEPH_CAP_OP_IMPORT, CEPH_CAP_OP_GRANT or\njust a CEPH_MSG_CLIENT_REPLY (the latter of which could be our own\ncompletion).  These will lead to a set_nlink() call, updating the\n`i_nlink` counter to the value received from the MDS.  If that new\n`i_nlink` value happens to be zero, it is illegal to decrement it\nfurther.  But that is exactly what ceph_unlink() will do then.\n\nThe WARNING can be reproduced this way:\n\n1. Force async unlink; only the async code path is affected.  Having\n   no real clue about Ceph internals, I was unable to find out why the\n   MDS wouldn't give me the \"Fxr\" capabilities, so I patched\n   get_caps_for_async_unlink() to always succeed.\n\n   (Note that the WARNING dump above was found on an unpatched kernel,\n   without this kludge - this is not a theoretical bug.)\n\n2. Add a sleep call after ceph_mdsc_submit_request() so the unlink\n   completion gets handled by a worker thread before drop_nlink() is\n   called.  This guarantees that the `i_nlink` is already zero before\n   drop_nlink() runs.\n\nThe solution is to skip the counter decrement when it is already zero,\nbut doing so without a lock is still racy (TOCTOU).  Since\nceph_fill_inode() and handle_cap_grant() both hold the\n`ceph_inode_info.i_ceph_lock` spinlock while set_nlink() runs, this\nseems like the proper lock to protect the `i_nlink` updates.\n\nI found prior art in NFS and SMB (using `inode.i_lock`) and AFS (using\n`afs_vnode.cb_lock`).  All three have the zero check as well."}],"affected":[{"product":"Linux","vendor":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["fs/ceph/dir.c"],"versions":[{"version":"2ccb45462aeaf0831397b90d31d3d50a7704fa1f","lessThan":"9b31e88ac5623d15c8bc46f69dfe1d3b43a8f67c","status":"affected","versionType":"git"},{"version":"2ccb45462aeaf0831397b90d31d3d50a7704fa1f","lessThan":"6d5fd8bb574bef039eb3b738e523870433a2aeb9","status":"affected","versionType":"git"},{"version":"2ccb45462aeaf0831397b90d31d3d50a7704fa1f","lessThan":"fcc477a6e8856c8a42b3c9e171724d8d6dfadd06","status":"affected","versionType":"git"},{"version":"2ccb45462aeaf0831397b90d31d3d50a7704fa1f","lessThan":"b3f5513141ecc6b277a8f7b7efe58a0cf9a5e859","status":"affected","versionType":"git"},{"version":"2ccb45462aeaf0831397b90d31d3d50a7704fa1f","lessThan":"aedd29386b23f3e1e6818943e11abfff2953732f","status":"affected","versionType":"git"},{"version":"2ccb45462aeaf0831397b90d31d3d50a7704fa1f","lessThan":"7db008e85a5d17b64bc5390b828bf457ae91a415","status":"affected","versionType":"git"},{"version":"2ccb45462aeaf0831397b90d31d3d50a7704fa1f","lessThan":"8975b85b0d45ca811ace6fac5907652f2310e5ac","status":"affected","versionType":"git"},{"version":"2ccb45462aeaf0831397b90d31d3d50a7704fa1f","lessThan":"ce0123cbb4a40a2f1bbb815f292b26e96088639f","status":"affected","versionType":"git"}]},{"product":"Linux","vendor":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["fs/ceph/dir.c"],"versions":[{"version":"5.7","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","lessThan":"5.7","status":"unaffected","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.10.253","lessThanOrEqual":"5.10.*","status":"unaffected","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.15.203","lessThanOrEqual":"5.15.*","status":"unaffected","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.1.167","lessThanOrEqual":"6.1.*","status":"unaffected","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.6.130","lessThanOrEqual":"6.6.*","status":"unaffected","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.12.78","lessThanOrEqual":"6.12.*","status":"unaffected","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.18.19","lessThanOrEqual":"6.18.*","status":"unaffected","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.19.9","lessThanOrEqual":"6.19.*","status":"unaffected","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.0","lessThanOrEqual":"*","status":"unaffected","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}]}],"cpeApplicability":[{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.7","versionEndExcluding":"5.10.253"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.7","versionEndExcluding":"5.15.203"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.7","versionEndExcluding":"6.1.167"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.7","versionEndExcluding":"6.6.130"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.7","versionEndExcluding":"6.12.78"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.7","versionEndExcluding":"6.18.19"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.7","versionEndExcluding":"6.19.9"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.7","versionEndExcluding":"7.0"}]}]}],"references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b31e88ac5623d15c8bc46f69dfe1d3b43a8f67c"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d5fd8bb574bef039eb3b738e523870433a2aeb9"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fcc477a6e8856c8a42b3c9e171724d8d6dfadd06"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b3f5513141ecc6b277a8f7b7efe58a0cf9a5e859"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aedd29386b23f3e1e6818943e11abfff2953732f"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7db008e85a5d17b64bc5390b828bf457ae91a415"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8975b85b0d45ca811ace6fac5907652f2310e5ac"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ce0123cbb4a40a2f1bbb815f292b26e96088639f"}],"title":"ceph: fix i_nlink underrun during async unlink","x_generator":{"engine":"bippy-1.2.0"}}}}