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Linux kernel CIFS subsystem CIFSwitch local privilege escalation privilege-escalation flaw

Vulnerability
First reported
Last updated
Happening score
H score 31
2 unique sources, 2 articles

Summary

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The Linux kernel CIFS subsystem has a disclosed CIFSwitch local privilege-escalation flaw that can let an unprivileged local attacker reach root privileges by abusing request_key and cifs.upcall in the CIFS authentication flow. The issue affects multiple Linux distributions with vulnerable kernel CIFS and cifs-utils combinations, including systems where cifs-utils ships by default. Major Linux distributions have rolled out fixes, and a proof-of-concept (PoC) is available to help validate patches, mitigations, detections, and exposure.

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Latest development: 14.05.2026 16:00

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Threat Actor Meta
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Timeline

  1. 01.06.2026 14:19 1 articles · 1mo ago

    Major Linux distributions roll out CIFSwitch fixes

    Mitigation Patch Update

    Major Linux distributions rolled out fixes for the CIFSwitch Linux kernel CIFS privilege-escalation flaw, and Manizada published PoC code to help defenders validate patches, mitigations, detections, and exposure. Linux Mint, CentOS, Rocky Linux, Kali Linux, AlmaLinux, and SLES SAP systems that ship cifs-utils by default are vulnerable, and some distros are vulnerable only if cifs-utils was manually installed.

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  2. 30.05.2026 17:16 2 articles · 1mo ago

    CIFSwitch Linux kernel flaw enables root code execution

    Initial Disclosure

    A newly disclosed Linux kernel CIFS flaw dubbed CIFSwitch lets an unprivileged local attacker forge cifs.spnego authentication requests, abuse the kernel key request flow, and reach root privileges on vulnerable systems. The issue affects some Linux distributions shipping vulnerable kernel CIFS and cifs-utils 6.14 and higher combinations, and the researcher says an upstream kernel patch now validates cifs.spnego request origins. A proof-of-concept exploit was also published to help validate patches and mitigations.

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