There are two variants of the Windows Subsystem for Linux: WSL1 and WSL2. You haven't stated which one you're using, so I'll explain the situation for both.
WSL1 emulates Linux system calls and special files in the Windows kernel. As a result, unless the emulated mount(2)
system call supports CIFS, WSL1 will not support it.
WSL2 uses a real Linux kernel provided by Microsoft. While this kernel does support modules, all of the drivers are shipped compiled in and no modules are shipped, so if the cifs
module is not already built into the kernel, then it won't work. The distro you're using doesn't ship the kernel or any modules for it (since Microsoft is responsible for that), so the decision on what's included is up to Microsoft.
If you're using WSL1, you can try using WSL2, in which case the driver might be present, and things might just work. Note that this requires your system have have support for the relevant virtualization extensions in the processor and enabled in the firmware.
You may also wish to try mounting the file system in Windows and assigning a drive letter. In that case, the file system will be available under /mnt
. For example, if you assigned the drive X:
to your CIFS share, then it would be available under /mnt/x
.