CVE-2026-46040

MEDIUM

inotify: fix watch count leak when fsnotify_add_inode_mark_locked() fails

Title source: cna
STIX 2.1

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: inotify: fix watch count leak when fsnotify_add_inode_mark_locked() fails When fsnotify_add_inode_mark_locked() fails in inotify_new_watch(), the error path calls inotify_remove_from_idr() but does not call dec_inotify_watches() to undo the preceding inc_inotify_watches(). This leaks a watch count, and repeated failures can exhaust the max_user_watches limit with -ENOSPC even when no watches are active. Prior to commit 1cce1eea0aff ("inotify: Convert to using per-namespace limits"), the watch count was incremented after fsnotify_add_mark_locked() succeeded, so this path was not affected. The conversion moved inc_inotify_watches() before the mark insertion without adding the corresponding rollback. Add the missing dec_inotify_watches() call in the error path.

Scores

CVSS v3 5.5
EPSS 0.0012
EPSS Percentile 2.4%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Details

Status published
Products (27)
linux/Kernel 4.11.0 - 5.10.258linux
linux/Kernel 5.11.0 - 5.15.209linux
linux/Kernel 5.16.0 - 6.1.175linux
linux/Kernel 6.13.0 - 6.18.27linux
linux/Kernel 6.19.0 - 7.0.4linux
linux/Kernel 6.2.0 - 6.6.140linux
linux/Kernel 6.7.0 - 6.12.86linux
Linux/Linux < 4.11
Linux/Linux 1cce1eea0aff51201753fcaca421df825b0813b6 - 10edf7e0ffdc7faa18e2244b17722c1b882b8273
Linux/Linux 1cce1eea0aff51201753fcaca421df825b0813b6 - 3ab58cf42c46bf2366d2f55ae5c59299d5e178b7
... and 17 more
Published May 27, 2026
Tracked Since May 27, 2026