DKDKCISSP
Vulnerabilities

Two CVSS 9.0 Linux KSMBD RCE Flaws Disclosed on Public Mailing Lists Before Kernel Fixes

Linux servers running KSMBD, the kernel's built-in SMB server, are exposed to two publicly reported remote code execution flaws rated 9.0 by Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative , with no fix yet in the mainline kernel.

DKCISSP News DeskThe Hacker News22 Oct 2026, 10:31 pm3 min read
Two CVSS 9.0 Linux KSMBD RCE Flaws Disclosed on Public Mailing Lists Before Kernel Fixes
Image courtesy of The Hacker News. Original report
DKCISSP REPORT

Linux servers running KSMBD, the kernel's built-in SMB server, are exposed to two publicly reported remote code execution flaws rated 9.0 by Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative , with no fix yet in the mainline kernel.

The flaw is a race in how KSMBD assigns its handler table: a burst of short SMB1 packets followed by an SMB2 packet in the same TCP write causes workers to handle SMB1 data with an SMB2 handler, reading past the end of the shorter buffer.

To the report on the VMware GPU driver , he wrote: "For some reason you sent this to public lists, and did not include a patch, so there's not much we can do with this." On the NVMe driver report , seventeen seconds later: "Again, no patch, and sent to a public list?

The Linux kernel's security documentation , updated in May 2026 following guidance from Linus Torvalds , states that bugs found by AI tools are, by definition, already public and should be sent to subsystem developer lists.

ZDI-CAN-33774 requires no authentication, exposing any server running KSMBD on port 445.

Linux news site Phoronix said SMB Direct maintainer Stefan Metzmacher submitted a fix for ZDI-CAN-33549 targeting the next kernel development cycle, but this has not been confirmed elsewhere.

ZDI-CAN-33367 , discovered by researcher p1r0x , is a local privilege escalation in the kernel's networking stack that requires local access.

One of them, ZDI-CAN-33774, can be triggered before any network authentication.

Neither flaw has a CVE identifier, since the kernel project assigns those only after a stable-tree fix is available.

A client can supply RDMA buffer descriptors in which the first is longer than the declared payload, causing the server's size counter to wrap and allowing a subsequent memory copy to overrun the end of an allocated buffer.

What happened

Linux servers running KSMBD, the kernel's built-in SMB server, are exposed to two publicly reported remote code execution flaws rated 9.0 by Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative , with no fix yet in the mainline kernel.

The flaw is a race in how KSMBD assigns its handler table: a burst of short SMB1 packets followed by an SMB2 packet in the same TCP write causes workers to handle SMB1 data with an SMB2 handler, reading past the end of the shorter buffer.

What changed

To the report on the VMware GPU driver , he wrote: "For some reason you sent this to public lists, and did not include a patch, so there's not much we can do with this." On the NVMe driver report , seventeen seconds later: "Again, no patch, and sent to a public list?

The Linux kernel's security documentation , updated in May 2026 following guidance from Linus Torvalds , states that bugs found by AI tools are, by definition, already public and should be sent to subsystem developer lists.

Who is affected

ZDI-CAN-33774 requires no authentication, exposing any server running KSMBD on port 445.

Linux news site Phoronix said SMB Direct maintainer Stefan Metzmacher submitted a fix for ZDI-CAN-33549 targeting the next kernel development cycle, but this has not been confirmed elsewhere.

Why it matters

ZDI-CAN-33367 , discovered by researcher p1r0x , is a local privilege escalation in the kernel's networking stack that requires local access.

One of them, ZDI-CAN-33774, can be triggered before any network authentication.

Technical details

Neither flaw has a CVE identifier, since the kernel project assigns those only after a stable-tree fix is available.

A client can supply RDMA buffer descriptors in which the first is longer than the declared payload, causing the server's size counter to wrap and allowing a subsequent memory copy to overrun the end of an allocated buffer.

ZDI-CAN-34068 is a local privilege escalation in the VMware virtual GPU driver, ZDI-CAN-34076 is an information disclosure in the NVMe target driver, and neither affects KSMBD servers.

Response

As of Thursday, neither flaw has a named fix in the mainline kernel or in linux-next , the integration tree that feeds it.

ZDI's routing appeared to follow that logic, copying public mailing lists alongside the private kernel security address without attaching patches to any of the reports.

Attribution

The Hacker News: Linux servers running KSMBD, the kernel's built-in SMB server, are exposed to two publicly reported remote code execution flaws rated 9.0 by Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative , with no fix yet in the mainline kernel.

What to watch next

Watch for updated vendor guidance and fixed-version details.

MORE IN VULNERABILITIES

More cybersecurity reporting

Arista patches new VeloCloud Orchestrator zero-day exploited in attacksBleepingComputer · 22 Oct 2026, 10:48 pmRace to update services' computer systems after cyber-security flaw foundBBC News · 22 Oct 2026, 10:42 pmCritical FortiSIEM Flaw Gets Public Exploit PoC for Unauthenticated Remote Code ExecutionThe Hacker News · 20 Oct 2026, 9:08 pmAttackers exploit Siemens Software Center flaw in active ClickFix malware campaign - Help Net SecurityHelp Net Security · 20 Oct 2026, 5:53 pm