Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-43420

high Nessus Plugin ID 313402

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- ceph: fix i_nlink underrun during async unlink During async unlink, we drop the `i_nlink` counter before we receive the completion (that will eventually update the `i_nlink`) because we assume that the unlink will succeed. That is not a bad idea, but it races against deletions by other clients (or against the completion of our own unlink) and can lead to an underrun which emits a WARNING like this one: WARNING:
CPU: 85 PID: 25093 at fs/inode.c:407 drop_nlink+0x50/0x68 Modules linked in: CPU: 85 UID: 3221252029 PID:
25093 Comm: php-cgi8.1 Not tainted 6.14.11-cm4all1-ampere #655 Hardware name: Supermicro ARS-110M-NR/R12SPD-A, BIOS 1.1b 10/17/2023 pstate: 60400009 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : drop_nlink+0x50/0x68 lr : ceph_unlink+0x6c4/0x720 sp : ffff80012173bc90 x29: ffff80012173bc90 x28:
ffff086d0a45aaf8 x27: ffff0871d0eb5680 x26: ffff087f2a64a718 x25: 0000020000000180 x24: 0000000061c88647 x23: 0000000000000002 x22: ffff07ff9236d800 x21: 0000000000001203 x20: ffff07ff9237b000 x19:
ffff088b8296afc0 x18: 00000000f3c93365 x17: 0000000000070000 x16: ffff08faffcbdfe8 x15: ffff08faffcbdfec x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 45445f65645f3037 x12: 34385f6369706f74 x11: 0000a2653104bb20 x10:
ffffd85f26d73290 x9 : ffffd85f25664f94 x8 : 00000000000000c0 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000002 x5 : 0000000000000081 x4 : 0000000000000481 x3 : 0000000000000000 x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 :
0000000000000000 x0 : ffff08727d3f91e8 Call trace: drop_nlink+0x50/0x68 (P) vfs_unlink+0xb0/0x2e8 do_unlinkat+0x204/0x288 __arm64_sys_unlinkat+0x3c/0x80 invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0x54/0xe8 do_el0_svc+0xa4/0xc8 el0_svc+0x18/0x58 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x104/0x130 el0t_64_sync+0x154/0x158 In ceph_unlink(), a call to ceph_mdsc_submit_request() submits the CEPH_MDS_OP_UNLINK to the MDS, but does not wait for completion. Meanwhile, between this call and the following drop_nlink() call, a worker thread may process a CEPH_CAP_OP_IMPORT, CEPH_CAP_OP_GRANT or just a CEPH_MSG_CLIENT_REPLY (the latter of which could be our own completion). These will lead to a set_nlink() call, updating the `i_nlink` counter to the value received from the MDS. If that new `i_nlink` value happens to be zero, it is illegal to decrement it further. But that is exactly what ceph_unlink() will do then. The WARNING can be reproduced this way: 1.
Force async unlink; only the async code path is affected. Having no real clue about Ceph internals, I was unable to find out why the MDS wouldn't give me the Fxr capabilities, so I patched get_caps_for_async_unlink() to always succeed. (Note that the WARNING dump above was found on an unpatched kernel, without this kludge - this is not a theoretical bug.) 2. Add a sleep call after ceph_mdsc_submit_request() so the unlink completion gets handled by a worker thread before drop_nlink() is called. This guarantees that the `i_nlink` is already zero before drop_nlink() runs. The solution is to skip the counter decrement when it is already zero, but doing so without a lock is still racy (TOCTOU).
Since ceph_fill_inode() and handle_cap_grant() both hold the `ceph_inode_info.i_ceph_lock` spinlock while set_nlink() runs, this seems like the proper lock to protect the `i_nlink` updates. I found prior art in NFS and SMB (using `inode.i_lock`) and AFS (using `afs_vnode.cb_lock`). All three have the zero check as well. (CVE-2026-43420)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2026-43420

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-43420

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 313402

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_43420.nasl

Version: 1.2

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 5/8/2026

Updated: 5/8/2026

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.8

Temporal Score: 5.8

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-43420

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 7.1

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:U/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-doc, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-modules-internal, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libperf, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-partner, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-extra-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-uki-virt, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:perf, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules, cpe:/o:centos:centos:8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:bpftool, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libperf-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-abi-whitelists, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools-libs-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-cross-headers, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools-libs, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:perf, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-abi-stablelists, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-uki-virt-addons, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-uki-virt, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-uki-virt-addons, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:python3-perf, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-headers, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-tools-libs-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:bpftool, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-kvm, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-extra-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-cross-headers, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-kvm, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-uki-virt-addons, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-kvm, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:linux, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-tools, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-uki-virt, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-abi-stablelists, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-doc, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-tools-libs, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-uki-virt-addons, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-abi-whitelists, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:rv, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-uki-virt, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libperf-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-headers, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libperf, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:python3-perf, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-ipaclones-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:rtla, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:rtla, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-ipaclones-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:rv, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/local_checks_enabled, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/8/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-43420