Vulnerability · CVE-2026-98451
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: use finish_no_open() for non-regular inodes An O_CREAT open can find an existing symli…
Published Oct 18, 2026 · catalog updated Oct 18, 2026 · the affected product
Open the advisory
Exploitation likelihood is not on this record for CVE-2026-98451. A missing EPSS score is not a low risk. Compare the affected product with the linked advisory before you change production.
Gaps on this record
- No plain product name is stored. The page cannot tell you which product to check.
- No version range is stored. A customer cannot check an installed version against this record.
- No vendor fix or required action is stored. Compare the linked advisory before you change production.
- EPSS is missing. A missing score is not a low risk.
- Severity
- Unknown—
- Known exploitation
- Not in CISA/VulnCheck KEV
- EPSS
- Awaiting synchronization with FIRST
- Remediation
- Not established
- Affected products
- See sources for product scope
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: use finish_no_open() for non-regular inodes An O_CREAT open can find an existing symlink or another non-regular inode. cifs_atomic_open() calls finish_open() on it and attaches a cifsFileInfo. Symlink inodes have no CIFS release operation, so the dentry reference held by cifsFileInfo is leaked. FMODE_OPENED also prevents the VFS from following the symlink. Track whether cifs_do_create() returned an open server handle. For non-regular inodes, close the handle if present, remove the pending open, and call finish_no_open() so the VFS can continue the lookup. Do not set FMODE_CREATED unless a regular file was opened. For O_NOFOLLOW with __O_REGULAR, return -ELOOP before the VFS's -EFTYPE check. Defer closing a legacy POSIX handle on a non-regular inode until after inode lookup. This avoids closing it again if lookup fails.
No affected version ranges are stored yet. Use the vendor advisory before you decide this record does not apply.
How to fix CVE-2026-98451
Recommended remediation
No required-action text, fix commit, or clear fixed-version range is stored yet.
Official advisories
What to do
Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.
Should you patch?
Exploitation likelihood is not on this record for CVE-2026-98451. A missing EPSS score is not a low risk. Compare the affected product with the linked advisory before you change production.
Which versions are affected?
Affected version ranges are not on this record. Compare the installed version with the linked vendor advisory before you change production.
What should an analyst verify?
No weakness class is stored. EPSS is not on this record yet. There is no CISA KEV listing. No Exploit-DB or Metasploit reference is linked. Use the source links for the original advisory.
Code
The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.
Timeline
Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.
Oct 18, 2026 · NIST NVD
Detected
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: use finish_no_open() for non-regular inodes An O_CREAT open can find an existing symlink or another non-regular inode. cifs_atomic_open() calls finish_open() on it and attaches a cifsFileInfo. Symlink inodes have no CIFS release operation, so the dentry reference held by cifsFileInfo is leaked. FMODE_OPENED also preve
Sources
- NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2026-98451
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: use finish_no_open() for non-regular inodes An O_CREAT open can find an existing symlink or another non-regular inode. cifs_atomic_open() calls finish_open() on it and attaches a cifsFileInfo. Syml
nvd.nist.gov
References
Freshness
Last verified in this catalog Oct 18, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.