CVE-2026-46040
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.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
✚ Propose a mitigation on Community → Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
OS impact
SUSE Affected 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| — | Affected | — |
Windows Affected 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| — | Affected | — |
Debian Mixed 5 releases
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| trixie | Fixed | 6.12.86-1 |
| sid | Fixed | 7.0.4-1 |
| forky | Fixed | 7.0.4-1 |
| bullseye | Affected | — |
| bookworm | Affected | — |
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8bcc1cd237ab5ccfdd102869fa031c541943cf40
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/73ddc8518a32baff6bc17afda4ee1ebae5b4ed12
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fdaa42ca370d056428e5e171247c8fdce8dff36a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e48844f708eb48bae4e79cb21edc097c966306d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a320935fa4293e9e599ec9f85dc9eb3be7029f8
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-46040
- https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-46040
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/10edf7e0ffdc7faa18e2244b17722c1b882b8273
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ab58cf42c46bf2366d2f55ae5c59299d5e178b7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ad9ccea1b25435f6179b57aa891960beb7ce8f9
- https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-46040.html
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.