In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ovl: fix double end_creating() on the casefold-mismatch path
ovl_create_real() releases the new dentry twice when the casefold
consistency check fails. The S_IFDIR branch calls end_creating() and
sets err, then falls through to the common out: label which calls
end_creating() on the same dentry again:
case S_IFDIR:
newdentry = ovl_do_mkdir(ofs, dir, newdentry, attr->mode);
err = PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO(newdentry);
if (!err && ofs->casefold != ovl_dentry_casefolded(newdentry)) {
pr_warn_ratelimited(...);
end_creating(newdentry); /* first */
err = -EINVAL;
}
break;
...
if (err)
goto out;
...
out:
if (err) {
end_creating(newdentry); /* second, same dentry */
return ERR_PTR(err);
}
end_creating() is end_dirop(), which does inode_unlock() on the parent
and dput() on the dentry, so the parent directory's i_rwsem is unlocked
twice and the dentry is put twice. The second unlock releases a lock
that is not held, which is what wedges every later creation under that
parent, and the second dput() drops a reference that was never taken.
The branch was added by commit dfc7da402ccc ("ovl: Check for casefold
consistency when creating new dentries") as a bare dput(), which already
released the reference twice; commit fe497f0759e0 ("VFS: change
vfs_mkdir() to unlock on failure.") converted both sites to
end_creating(), adding the double unlock.
This is reachable by an unprivileged user. The casefold consistency of
the layers is validated at mount time in ovl_parse_layer(), and again on
every lookup in ovl_lookup_single(), but ofs->workdir is the internal
"work" subdirectory created inside the user-supplied workdir, and that
subdirectory is not re-checked. Marking it casefolded after the mount
therefore makes every ovl_create_temp() inherit the wrong state - and
that path reaches ovl_create_real() through ovl_start_creating_temp(),
which uses start_creating() with a generated name and so never runs the
lookup-time check.
unshare -Urm
mount -t tmpfs -o casefold=utf8-12.1.0 tmpfs mnt
mkdir -p mnt/lower/d mnt/upper mnt/work mnt/merged
mount -t overlay ovl -o lowerdir=mnt/lower,\
upperdir=mnt/upper,workdir=mnt/work mnt/merged
chattr +F mnt/work/work
mkdir mnt/merged/d/sub # directory copy-up
overlayfs: wrong inherited casefold (work/#5)
and the next copy-up blocks forever on the parent's i_rwsem:
mkdir D start_creating+0x65/0xb0
ovl_start_creating_temp+0xb0/0xe0 [overlay]
ovl_create_temp+0xa3/0x1d0 [overlay]
ovl_copy_up_one+0x1f1c/0x21c0 [overlay]
ovl_copy_up_flags+0xf5/0x140 [overlay]
ovl_create_object+0xb7/0x220 [overlay]
ovl_mkdir+0x23/0x40 [overlay]
Drop the end_creating() from the branch and let out: own the cleanup,
which is what every other error path in this function already does.
ovl: fix double end_creating() on the casefold-mismatch path
ovl_create_real() releases the new dentry twice when the casefold
consistency check fails. The S_IFDIR branch calls end_creating() and
sets err, then falls through to the common out: label which calls
end_creating() on the same dentry again:
case S_IFDIR:
newdentry = ovl_do_mkdir(ofs, dir, newdentry, attr->mode);
err = PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO(newdentry);
if (!err && ofs->casefold != ovl_dentry_casefolded(newdentry)) {
pr_warn_ratelimited(...);
end_creating(newdentry); /* first */
err = -EINVAL;
}
break;
...
if (err)
goto out;
...
out:
if (err) {
end_creating(newdentry); /* second, same dentry */
return ERR_PTR(err);
}
end_creating() is end_dirop(), which does inode_unlock() on the parent
and dput() on the dentry, so the parent directory's i_rwsem is unlocked
twice and the dentry is put twice. The second unlock releases a lock
that is not held, which is what wedges every later creation under that
parent, and the second dput() drops a reference that was never taken.
The branch was added by commit dfc7da402ccc ("ovl: Check for casefold
consistency when creating new dentries") as a bare dput(), which already
released the reference twice; commit fe497f0759e0 ("VFS: change
vfs_mkdir() to unlock on failure.") converted both sites to
end_creating(), adding the double unlock.
This is reachable by an unprivileged user. The casefold consistency of
the layers is validated at mount time in ovl_parse_layer(), and again on
every lookup in ovl_lookup_single(), but ofs->workdir is the internal
"work" subdirectory created inside the user-supplied workdir, and that
subdirectory is not re-checked. Marking it casefolded after the mount
therefore makes every ovl_create_temp() inherit the wrong state - and
that path reaches ovl_create_real() through ovl_start_creating_temp(),
which uses start_creating() with a generated name and so never runs the
lookup-time check.
unshare -Urm
mount -t tmpfs -o casefold=utf8-12.1.0 tmpfs mnt
mkdir -p mnt/lower/d mnt/upper mnt/work mnt/merged
mount -t overlay ovl -o lowerdir=mnt/lower,\
upperdir=mnt/upper,workdir=mnt/work mnt/merged
chattr +F mnt/work/work
mkdir mnt/merged/d/sub # directory copy-up
overlayfs: wrong inherited casefold (work/#5)
and the next copy-up blocks forever on the parent's i_rwsem:
mkdir D start_creating+0x65/0xb0
ovl_start_creating_temp+0xb0/0xe0 [overlay]
ovl_create_temp+0xa3/0x1d0 [overlay]
ovl_copy_up_one+0x1f1c/0x21c0 [overlay]
ovl_copy_up_flags+0xf5/0x140 [overlay]
ovl_create_object+0xb7/0x220 [overlay]
ovl_mkdir+0x23/0x40 [overlay]
Drop the end_creating() from the branch and let out: own the cleanup,
which is what every other error path in this function already does.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Linux | Linux | affected |
|
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Fixes
Solution
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Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Sat, 12 Sep 2026 08:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Weaknesses | CWE-663 |
Fri, 11 Sep 2026 23:45:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ovl: fix double end_creating() on the casefold-mismatch path ovl_create_real() releases the new dentry twice when the casefold consistency check fails. The S_IFDIR branch calls end_creating() and sets err, then falls through to the common out: label which calls end_creating() on the same dentry again: case S_IFDIR: newdentry = ovl_do_mkdir(ofs, dir, newdentry, attr->mode); err = PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO(newdentry); if (!err && ofs->casefold != ovl_dentry_casefolded(newdentry)) { pr_warn_ratelimited(...); end_creating(newdentry); /* first */ err = -EINVAL; } break; ... if (err) goto out; ... out: if (err) { end_creating(newdentry); /* second, same dentry */ return ERR_PTR(err); } end_creating() is end_dirop(), which does inode_unlock() on the parent and dput() on the dentry, so the parent directory's i_rwsem is unlocked twice and the dentry is put twice. The second unlock releases a lock that is not held, which is what wedges every later creation under that parent, and the second dput() drops a reference that was never taken. The branch was added by commit dfc7da402ccc ("ovl: Check for casefold consistency when creating new dentries") as a bare dput(), which already released the reference twice; commit fe497f0759e0 ("VFS: change vfs_mkdir() to unlock on failure.") converted both sites to end_creating(), adding the double unlock. This is reachable by an unprivileged user. The casefold consistency of the layers is validated at mount time in ovl_parse_layer(), and again on every lookup in ovl_lookup_single(), but ofs->workdir is the internal "work" subdirectory created inside the user-supplied workdir, and that subdirectory is not re-checked. Marking it casefolded after the mount therefore makes every ovl_create_temp() inherit the wrong state - and that path reaches ovl_create_real() through ovl_start_creating_temp(), which uses start_creating() with a generated name and so never runs the lookup-time check. unshare -Urm mount -t tmpfs -o casefold=utf8-12.1.0 tmpfs mnt mkdir -p mnt/lower/d mnt/upper mnt/work mnt/merged mount -t overlay ovl -o lowerdir=mnt/lower,\ upperdir=mnt/upper,workdir=mnt/work mnt/merged chattr +F mnt/work/work mkdir mnt/merged/d/sub # directory copy-up overlayfs: wrong inherited casefold (work/#5) and the next copy-up blocks forever on the parent's i_rwsem: mkdir D start_creating+0x65/0xb0 ovl_start_creating_temp+0xb0/0xe0 [overlay] ovl_create_temp+0xa3/0x1d0 [overlay] ovl_copy_up_one+0x1f1c/0x21c0 [overlay] ovl_copy_up_flags+0xf5/0x140 [overlay] ovl_create_object+0xb7/0x220 [overlay] ovl_mkdir+0x23/0x40 [overlay] Drop the end_creating() from the branch and let out: own the cleanup, which is what every other error path in this function already does. | |
| Title | ovl: fix double end_creating() on the casefold-mismatch path | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-09-11T19:47:07.353Z
Reserved: 2026-09-11T19:38:34.764Z
Link: CVE-2026-89767
Vulnrichment
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NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-09-11T20:20:07.960
Modified: 2026-09-11T20:20:07.960
Link: CVE-2026-89767
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-09-12T08:00:11Z
Weaknesses