CVE-2026-46040

Medium

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.

SeverityMedium
CVSS5.5
Exploit probability—
ProductLinux Kernel
PublishedMay 27, 2026
First seenMay 27, 2026

How to fix

Affected products

ProductAffected versionsFixed in
linux linux_kernel4.11 ≤ v < 5.10.258, 5.11 ≤ v < 5.15.209, 5.16 ≤ v < 6.1.175, 6.2 ≤ v < 6.6.140, 6.7 ≤ v < 6.12.86, 6.13 ≤ v < 6.18.27, 6.19 ≤ v < 7.0.45.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.6.140, 6.12.86, 6.18.27, 7.0.4

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