CVE-2026-74486 PUBLISHED

binfmt_misc: use exe_file_deny_write_access() for the interpreter clone

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 15.08.2026 Published: 15.08.2026 Updated: 15.08.2026

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

binfmt_misc: use exe_file_deny_write_access() for the interpreter clone

For MISC_FMT_OPEN_FILE entries load_misc_binary() clones the registered interpreter file and denies write access to the clone via plain deny_write_access(). The clone is installed as bprm->interpreter and later released by the exec machinery through exe_file_allow_write_access() which skips the i_writecount increment for files with FMODE_FSNOTIFY_HSM set.

The deny and allow side can therefore come to different conclusions when pre-content watches are in play: if a pre-content watch is added to the interpreter after registration every subsequent exec through that entry takes a write denial on the clone that is never paired with a write allowance, driving the interpreter inode's i_writecount further down with each exec and leaving the interpreter unwritable even after the entry and all its users are gone.

Take the write denial via exe_file_deny_write_access() so both sides of the pairing base their decision on the same file mode, and propagate failure instead of silently ignoring it: an interpreter that is concurrently open for writing now fails the exec with ETXTBSY, exactly like an interpreter freshly opened via open_exec() would.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 0357ef03c94ef835bd44a0658b8edb672a9dbf51 to 255a758697da87a205e072e0cfc35897b8f743b1 (excl.)
  • affected from 0357ef03c94ef835bd44a0658b8edb672a9dbf51 to f0edbaf487e4653a680a7abb91c1df94cb7886aa (excl.)
  • affected from 0357ef03c94ef835bd44a0658b8edb672a9dbf51 to fa5990ca8fd917003e526036bcc50413edb9722c (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 6.14 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 6.14 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 6.18.44 to 6.18.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.1.8 to 7.1.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.2-rc6 to * (incl.)

References