---
id: "CVE-2026-99180"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-99180"]
title: "Linux kernel: casefolded filesystem lookups can read a freed Unicode map"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["ext4", "f2fs", "infrastructure", "linux-kernel", "self-hosted", "tmpfs"]
not_affected_if: ["config-unicode-disabled", "no-casefold-mounts"]
published_at: "2026-10-28T11:17:38+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-28T11:32:36+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-28T11:35:25+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99180", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-28T11:32:36+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: casefolded filesystem lookups can read a freed Unicode map

When a casefolded ext4, f2fs or tmpfs mount is torn down while a path lookup is still running, the lookup can read the Unicode map after it has been freed. The sources do not say what an attacker can gain beyond a kernel use-after-free crash or memory read.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- Run `uname -r` and compare against the fixed kernel in the upstream commit referenced by NVD
- Check whether casefold is enabled on a mount with `lsattr -d <dir>` (the F flag marks casefolded directories) or `tune2fs -l <device> | grep -i casefold` for ext4
- unknown for a definitive exposure test from the sources

## Fix

- Update the Linux kernel to a release that includes the upstream fix (the 'unicode: free the map after a grace period' change), version unknown from the sources
- Until patched, avoid casefold-enabled ext4, f2fs or tmpfs mounts on shared or untrusted hosts
- unknown for exact fixed version numbers

## Timeline

- 2026-10-28T11:32:36+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99180

## From the sources

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

unicode: free the map after a grace period

generic_ci_d_hash() and generic_ci_d_compare() read sb->s_encoding and
dereference the unicode map while a pathwalk in rcu mode holds nothing
but rcu_read_lock(). The filesystems that use them, ext4, f2fs and
tmpfs, drop the map with utf8_unload() from ->put_super(), which runs
when the last reference to the mount goes away. A lookup that is still
inside such a filesystem at that point reads a freed map.

With a pathwalk held up in utf8_casefold_hash() while the last reference
to a casefolded tmpfs goes away:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in utf8nlookup+0x74c/0x950
  Read of size 8 at addr ff110001030fe658 by task walker/98
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   utf8nlookup+0x74c/0x950
   utf8byte+0x160/0x1560
   utf8_casefold_hash+0x167/0x230
   generic_ci_d_hash+0xdd/0x1c0
   link_path_walk+0x11ad/0x1d30
   path_lookupat+0x63/0xb00
   filename_lookup+0x1f1/0x5b0
   vfs_statx+0xd7/0x3b0
  [...]
  Allocated by task 94:
   __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x249/0x560
   utf8_load+0x4e/0x570
   shmem_parse_opt_casefold.isra.0+0x92/0x270
  [...]
  Freed by task 97:
   kfree+0x1db/0x5b0
   shmem_put_super+0x72/0x170
   generic_shutdown_super+0x14c/0x530
   kill_anon_super+0x3a/0x60
   deactivate_locked_super+0x9c/0xf0
   cleanup_mnt+0x9f/0x130

So far that has been hard to hit. umount(2) waits for a grace period
in namespace_unlock() before it drops the mount, so only a mount whose
last reference goes away elsewhere, like the close of a file or a chdir
out of a lazily unmounted directory, can race a walker. So it is
reachable.

Delay the free until a grace period has passed. The map and the data
table it holds a reference to then outlive any pathwalk that found the
superblock before the mount went away. The reference on the data table
module is dropped from the rcu callback as well. utf8-core is built in
whenever CONFIG_UNICODE is set, so there is no module exit that would
have to wait for the callbacks.

Overlayfs points the s_encoding of an overlay at the map of its first
layer without taking a reference of its own. That stays correct. The
layer is held by the overlay, so its map is dropped only after the
overlay is gone.

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_