<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[cifs-utils LPE (CVE-2026-46243) &#x2F; 8.3 dom0 vulnerability inquiry]]></title><description><![CDATA[<p dir="auto">Hi all,</p>
<p dir="auto">Flagging <strong>CIFSwitch (CVE-2026-46243, assigned June 1)</strong> for this community, since it touches dom0 directly. It's the fourth Linux LPE in the recent run after CopyFail, Dirty Frag, and Fragnesia. It spans the kernel's CIFS/SMB client and the cifs-utils userspace helper: an unprivileged local user forges a cifs.spnego key request, the kernel launches cifs.upcall as root, and the helper trusts attacker-controlled fields, switches into the attacker's namespace, and loads a malicious NSS library before dropping privileges — landing a root shell. Latent since 2007, public PoC available.</p>
<p dir="auto">It's explicitly "non-universal" — the researcher (Asim Manizada) lists five conditions that must all hold. I went through them on a stock 8.3 host, and all five are met:</p>
<ol>
<li>cifs-utils installed (affected version):</li>
</ol>
<pre><code>[root@xcpng ~]# rpm -q cifs-utils
cifs-utils-7.1-2.1.x86_64
</code></pre>
<ol start="2">
<li>CIFS module loadable:</li>
</ol>
<pre><code>[root@xcpng ~]# modinfo cifs | head -1
filename:  /lib/modules/4.19.0+1/kernel/fs/cifs/cifs.ko
</code></pre>
<ol start="3">
<li>Unprivileged user namespaces enabled:</li>
</ol>
<pre><code>[root@xcpng ~]# sysctl user.max_user_namespaces
user.max_user_namespaces = 9896
</code></pre>
<ol start="4">
<li>Default cifs.spnego request-key rule present (the trigger):</li>
</ol>
<pre><code>[root@xcpng ~]# cat /etc/request-key.d/cifs.spnego.conf
create  cifs.spnego    * * /usr/sbin/cifs.upcall %k
</code></pre>
<ol start="5">
<li>No LSM in the way — SELinux disabled by default on dom0:</li>
</ol>
<pre><code>[root@xcpng ~]# getenforce
Disabled
</code></pre>
<p dir="auto">On several newer EL distros a default-enforcing SELinux policy blocks the chain even with cifs-utils present. dom0 ships with SELinux disabled, so that backstop isn't there for us.<br />
The open question — and the reason I'm posting: all five userspace/config preconditions are met, but that doesn't by itself prove the kernel is exploitable. The deciding factor is whether the upstream fix (commit 3da1fdf, "smb: client: reject userspace cifs.spnego descriptions") has been backported into the current dom0 kernel (4.19.19-8.0.46.2.xcpng8.3). The most recent kernel update (May 2026 Updates #3, May 21) predates the CIFSwitch disclosure on May 28, so I'd assume it hasn't landed yet — but I can't confirm that from the changelog alone.</p>
<p dir="auto">So, two things:</p>
<p dir="auto">Has anyone at VATES already tested dom0 against this? A quick yes/no on whether a fully-patched 8.3 host is exploitable would settle it for the whole community, and would tell us whether a kernel update is in the pipeline.<br />
If not, I'll take a crack at it. If I get time today I'll try to stand up the PoC (<a href="http://github.com/manizada/CIFSwitch" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow ugc">github.com/manizada/CIFSwitch</a>) against a fully-patched, throwaway 8.3 test host — never anything production — and report back what I find. If someone's already done this, say the word and I won't duplicate the effort.</p>
<p dir="auto">Context / mitigating factor: this is a local privesc, and a properly locked-down dom0 shouldn't have untrusted shell users to begin with — dom0 is meant to be a black box. So not drop-everything urgent. But it's unnecessary attack surface in the most privileged domain on the host, and a clean pivot after any partial compromise. Cheap to close.</p>
<p dir="auto">Check your own dom0 (full five-condition sweep):</p>
<pre><code>bashrpm -q cifs-utils
modinfo cifs 2&gt;/dev/null | head -1
sysctl user.max_user_namespaces
cat /etc/request-key.d/cifs.spnego.conf
getenforce
</code></pre>
<p dir="auto">Interim mitigation if you don't mount CIFS/SMB in dom0 (almost certainly the case — SRs use NFS/iSCSI/local):</p>
<pre><code>yum remove cifs-utils
</code></pre>
<p dir="auto">No reboot, no toolstack restart. Or blacklist the module:</p>
<pre><code>echo "blacklist cifs" &gt; /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-cifs.conf
</code></pre>
<p dir="auto">If you genuinely use CIFS in dom0, override the request-key rule to negate unsolicited requests instead.</p>
<p dir="auto">Cheers</p>
]]></description><link>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/topic/12254/cifs-utils-lpe-cve-2026-46243-8.3-dom0-vulnerability-inquiry</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:03:29 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://xcp-ng.org/forum/topic/12254.rss" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:58:29 GMT</pubDate><ttl>60</ttl><item><title><![CDATA[Reply to cifs-utils LPE (CVE-2026-46243) &#x2F; 8.3 dom0 vulnerability inquiry on Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:32:36 GMT]]></title><description><![CDATA[<p dir="auto">Just a quick update for anyone following this thread—I decided to test this out on my end to verify the impact.</p>
<p dir="auto">After installing gcc in Dom0 and making a few necessary tweaks to the PoC code, I was able to successfully compile and run it. I managed to gain root access starting from a standard, unprivileged account. Based on this, I can confirm that a fully patched XCP-ng 8.3 system is indeed vulnerable to this attack.</p>
<p dir="auto">However, I want to strongly emphasize a key point about the threat model here so we keep the risk in perspective: this is strictly a Local Privilege Escalation (LPE) vulnerability. An attacker cannot just trigger this remotely. To exploit this, someone absolutely must already have a provisioned account with access to your Dom0. If you are following best practices and strictly controlling who (and what) has shell access to Dom0, your immediate, real-world risk is significantly mitigated.</p>
<p dir="auto">Hopefully, this helps clarify the exposure for everyone while we wait for an official patch upstream.</p>
]]></description><link>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/105931</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/105931</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Rod G]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:32:36 GMT</pubDate></item></channel></rss>