In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: fix TCP timers deadlock after rmmod Commit ef7134c7fc48 ("smb: client: Fix use-after-free of network namespace.") fixed a netns UAF by manually enabled socket refcounting (sk->sk_net_refcnt=1 and sock_inuse_add(net, 1)). The reason the patch worked for that bug was because we now hold references to the netns (get_net_track() gets a ref internally) and they're properly released (internally, on __sk_destruct()), but only because sk->sk_net_refcnt was set. Problem: (this happens regardless of CONFIG_NET_NS_REFCNT_TRACKER and regardless if init_net or other) Setting sk->sk_net_refcnt=1 *manually* and *after* socket creation is not only out of cifs scope, but also technically wrong -- it's set conditionally based on user (=1) vs kernel (=0) sockets. And net/ implementations seem to base their user vs kernel space operations on it. e.g. upon TCP socket close, the TCP timers are not cleared because sk->sk…