---
id: CVE-2026-53394
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  nfsd: avoid leaking pre-allocated openowner on unconfirmed retry race

  When find_or_alloc_open_stateowner() encounters an unconfirmed owner, it
  calls release_openowner(…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  nfsd: avoid leaking pre-allocated openowner on unconfirmed retry race

  When find_or_alloc_open_stateowner() encounters an unconfirmed owner, it
  calls release_openowner(…
severity: high
published: '2026-07-19'
updated: '2026-07-19'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53394'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/017a6150106b054cc84d1b0582d97bd3a74d4281'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/57aee7a35bb12753057c5b65d72d1f46c0e95b07'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a10bf67fe06469a71a401f72f328237345d553c0'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c9aefb2b5f11337c9202c5bd0c45d71198449718'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-07-19T21:33:34.881Z'
epss: 0.0063
epssPercentile: 0.49965
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 23df17788c6212809848f836b10c4f85b16843a5 <
    c9aefb2b5f11337c9202c5bd0c45d71198449718
  - >-
    Linux >= 23df17788c6212809848f836b10c4f85b16843a5 <
    017a6150106b054cc84d1b0582d97bd3a74d4281
  - >-
    Linux >= 23df17788c6212809848f836b10c4f85b16843a5 <
    a10bf67fe06469a71a401f72f328237345d553c0
  - >-
    Linux >= 23df17788c6212809848f836b10c4f85b16843a5 <
    57aee7a35bb12753057c5b65d72d1f46c0e95b07
  - Linux 6.10
cvss: 7.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'yes'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-10-16T15:30:18.446587Z'
cvssSource: cna
---

## Overview

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

nfsd: avoid leaking pre-allocated openowner on unconfirmed retry race

When find_or_alloc_open_stateowner() encounters an unconfirmed owner, it
calls release_openowner() and sets oo = NULL. Control then falls through
past the `if (oo)` guard -- which would have freed any pre-allocated
`new` -- and unconditionally executes `new = alloc_stateowner(...)`. If
`new` was already allocated on a prior iteration, the pointer is
silently overwritten and the previous allocation (slab object + owner
name buffer) is leaked.

This requires a race: two NFSv4.0 OPEN threads with the same owner
string, where a concurrent thread inserts a new unconfirmed owner into
the hash between retry iterations. The window is narrow but repeatable
under adversarial conditions.

Fix by adding `goto retry` after `oo = NULL` so the already-allocated
`new` is reused on the next iteration rather than overwritten.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.