CVE-2026-72170
NVD analysis in progress
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: 9p: skip nlink update in cacheless mode to fix WARN_ON v9fs_dec_count() unconditionally calls drop_nlink() on regular files, even when the inode's nlink is already zero. In cacheless mode the client refetches inode metadata from the server (the source of truth) on every operation, so by the time v9fs_remove() returns, the locally cached nlink may already reflect the post-unlink value: 1. Client initiates unlink, server processes it and sets nlink to 0 2. Client refetches inode metadata (nlink=0) before unlink returns 3. Client's v9fs_remove() completes successfully 4. Client calls v9fs_dec_count() which calls drop_nlink() on nlink=0 This race is easily triggered under heavy unlink workloads, such as stress-ng's unlink stressor, producing the following warning: WARNING: fs/inode.c:417 at drop_nlink+0x4c/0xc8 Call trace: drop_nlink+0x4c/0xc8 v9fs_remove+0x1e0/0x250 [9p] v9fs_vfs_unlink+0x20/0x38 [9p] vfs_unlink+0x13c/0x258 ... In cacheless mode the server is authoritative and the inode is on its way out, so locally adjusting nlink buys nothing. Skip v9fs_dec_count() entirely when neither CACHE_META nor CACHE_LOOSE is set, which both avoids the warning and removes a class of nlink races (two concurrent unlinkers observing nlink > 0 and both calling drop_nlink()) that an nlink == 0 guard alone would only narrow rather than close.
What this means
- Exposure
- Exploitable with local access to the machine, with an ordinary user account and with no action from the victim.
- Impact
- An attacker can read sensitive data, modify or destroy data and take the service offline.
- Likelihood
- Its EPSS score stays low: nothing points to imminent exploitation, which is no reason to leave it unpatched.
What to doFold into the next patch cycle.
Read automatically from the CVSS vector, the weakness type (CWE) and the EPSS score. The technical description above remains the one published by NIST.