The vulnerability arises when the ksmbd path removal function is not invoked on some error branches within the Linux kernel. This omission can leave inode locks and references unreleased, resulting in deadlocks or leaked locks that are detected as workqueue leaked lock errors. Attackers could exploit this through malformed SMB requests, potentially causing kernel panics or denial of service. The weakness pertains to improper synchronization and resource deallocation, classifying it as a deadlock scenario (CWE-772).

All Linux kernels that incorporate the ksmbd module are affected, particularly those using older releases prior to the patch that added ksmbd_vfs_kern_path_end_removing() calls on error paths. The CPE identifies the linux_kernel; specific version details are not listed in the CVE data. Vendor distributions that have not yet applied the patch to their kernel package remain vulnerable.

The CVSS score of 5.5 indicates a moderate severity. The EPSS score of < 1% indicates a very low probability of exploitation, and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA’s KEV catalog. The risk remains uncertain, but if an attacker can trigger the problematic paths, they could trigger kernel workqueue lock leaks, potentially enabling denial of service or further escalation. Based on the description, the likely attack vector involves provoking kernel faults through malformed SMB requests or other interactions with ksmbd, requiring that the target system has ksmbd enabled.