[PATCH] smb: client: pin DFS superblock in iterator callback

From: Karl Mehltretter

Date: Wed Sep 02 2026 - 16:17:56 EST


tcon_super_cb() stores a raw superblock pointer, but __cifs_get_super()
takes its active reference only after iterate_supers_type() has dropped
s_umount and its passive reference. Concurrent DFS automount expiry can
therefore free the superblock before cifs_sb_active() uses it.

A deterministic KASAN test reproduces the race as:

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in cifs_sb_active+0x77/0x80

The same test passes with this change applied.

Take the active reference in the callback while iterate_supers_type()
still holds s_umount shared. cifs_put_tcp_super() remains the matching
release.

Fixes: bacd704a95ad ("cifs: handle prefix paths in reconnect")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Assisted-by: LLM
Signed-off-by: Karl Mehltretter <kmehltretter@xxxxxxxxx>
---
Testing: x86_64 QEMU KASAN A/B with deterministic KUnit synchronization
around the lifetime gap and real VFS superblock allocation/teardown.
Baseline reports a slab-use-after-free in cifs_sb_active(); fixed passes.

fs/smb/client/misc.c | 17 ++++++++---------
1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/fs/smb/client/misc.c b/fs/smb/client/misc.c
index 46e1382e8e04b..d4db3f91a91fa 100644
--- a/fs/smb/client/misc.c
+++ b/fs/smb/client/misc.c
@@ -891,8 +891,14 @@ static void tcon_super_cb(struct super_block *sb, void *arg)
t1->ses->dfs_root_ses == t2->ses->dfs_root_ses) &&
t1->ses->server == t2->ses->server &&
t2->origin_fullpath &&
- dfs_src_pathname_equal(t2->origin_fullpath, t1->origin_fullpath))
+ dfs_src_pathname_equal(t2->origin_fullpath, t1->origin_fullpath)) {
+ /*
+ * Take the active reference while iterate_supers_type() still
+ * holds s_umount shared.
+ */
+ cifs_sb_active(sb);
sd->sb = sb;
+ }
spin_unlock(&t2->tc_lock);
}

@@ -909,15 +915,8 @@ static struct super_block *__cifs_get_super(void (*f)(struct super_block *, void

for (; *fs_type; fs_type++) {
iterate_supers_type(*fs_type, f, &sd);
- if (sd.sb) {
- /*
- * Grab an active reference in order to prevent automounts (DFS links)
- * of expiring and then freeing up our cifs superblock pointer while
- * we're doing failover.
- */
- cifs_sb_active(sd.sb);
+ if (sd.sb)
return sd.sb;
- }
}
pr_warn_once("%s: could not find dfs superblock\n", __func__);
return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
--
2.53.0