IM
IronMonkey Threat Research

CVE-2026-46040 MEDIUM

Published: 2026-05-27 | Last Modified: 2026-09-08 | Status: Modified

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.

CVSS Metrics

Base Score: 5.5 (MEDIUM)

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack VectorLOCAL
Attack ComplexityLOW
Privileges RequiredLOW
User InteractionNONE
ScopeUNCHANGED
Confidentiality ImpactNONE
Integrity ImpactNONE
Availability ImpactHIGH

Source: [email protected]

Type: Primary

Exploitability Score: 1.8

Impact Score: 3.6

Weaknesses

Source Type Description
[email protected] Primary
en NVD-CWE-Other

Affected Products

Vendor Product Version Update Type
linux linux_kernel * <built-in method update of dict object at 0x7d2424508f40> Operating System
linux linux_kernel * <built-in method update of dict object at 0x7d239fbe82c0> Operating System
linux linux_kernel * <built-in method update of dict object at 0x7d23549fdb40> Operating System
linux linux_kernel * <built-in method update of dict object at 0x7d23af074480> Operating System
linux linux_kernel * <built-in method update of dict object at 0x7d24245087c0> Operating System
linux linux_kernel * <built-in method update of dict object at 0x7d23af0740c0> Operating System
linux linux_kernel * <built-in method update of dict object at 0x7d2424508900> Operating System

Affected Configurations

Operator: OR

Vulnerable CPE
Yes cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Yes cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Yes cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Yes cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Yes cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Yes cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Yes cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References

Notification
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