# CVE-2026-31444

> Vulnerability · severity: **CRITICAL** (CVSS 9.8).

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ksmbd: fix use-after-free and NULL deref in smb_grant_oplock()

smb_grant_oplock() has two issues in the oplock publication sequence:

1) opinfo is linked into ci->m_op_list (via opinfo_add) before
   add_lease_global_list() is called.  If add_lease_global_list()
   fails (kmalloc returns NULL), the error path frees the opinfo
   via __free_opinfo() while it is still linked in ci->m_op_list.
   Concurrent m_op_list readers (opinfo_get_list, or direct iteration
   in smb_break_all_levII_oplock) dereference the freed node.

2) opinfo->o_fp is assigned after add_lease_global_list() publishes
   the opinfo on the global lease list.  A concurrent
   find_same_lease_key() can walk the lease list and dereference
   opinfo->o_fp->f_ci while o_fp is still NULL.

Fix by restructuring the publication sequence to eliminate post-publish
failure:

- Set opinfo->o_fp before any list publication (fixes NULL deref).
- Preallocate lease_table via alloc_lease_table() before opinfo_add()
  so add_lease_global_list() becomes infallible after publication.
- Keep the original m_op_list publication order (opinfo_add before
  lease list) so concurrent opens via same_client_has_lease() and
  opinfo_get_list() still see the in-flight grant.
- Use opinfo_put() instead of __free_opinfo() on err_out so that
  the RCU-deferred free path is used.

This also requires splitting add_lease_global_list() to take a
preallocated lease_table and changing its return type from int to void,
since it can no longer fail.

## Key facts

- **CVE ID:** CVE-2026-31444
- **Published:** 2026-04-22
- **CVSS severity:** CRITICAL
- **CVSS base score:** 9.8
- **CWE codes:** CWE-416

## Affected products

- `linux:linux_kernel`

## Primary sources

- NIST NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31444

## Citation

> AI Analytics. CVE-2026-31444. Retrieved 2026-07-20 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/cve/CVE-2026-31444. Derived from NIST NVD. Licensed CC0.

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