CVE-2026-98449

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's SMB (Server Message Block) client. This issue may allow a remote attacker or malicious server to trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by inducing network transmission failures during compound request processing. Because the client releases its connection lock without first clearing pending requests from the queue upon a send failure, a subsequent reconnection attempt improperly accounts for tracking credits twice. This error leads to internal state corruption, kernel warnings, and potential system instability.

This vulnerability is rated as having a Moderate impact for Red Hat Enterprise Linux because exploitation requires a client system to establish an SMB connection to an external or untrusted server where transmission errors can occur. In standard Red Hat deployments, CIFS/SMB client functionality is not enabled or mounted by default, limiting exposure to systems configured to mount remote file shares. Triggering this condition results in kernel credit accounting errors and denial of service, but does not allow privilege escalation or unauthorized data exposure.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.