ntfs: sanitize MFT references returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name()

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-72188
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerLinux
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-08-15 06:21:37 UTC
Updated2026-08-17 06:18:19 UTC
DescriptionIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: sanitize MFT references returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() returns MFT references read from directory index entries on disk. These values are untrusted, but the function can currently return an error-marked MFT reference to its callers without validating it. Callers later decode lookup failures with MREF_ERR(). A crafted NTFS image can set the MREF error bit while leaving the low bits as an arbitrary value, causing callers to consume a bogus pseudo-errno instead of treating the lookup result as corrupted on-disk metadata. Fix this at the source by normalizing every error-marked MFT reference returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() to ERR_MREF(-EIO). Apply this to all four directory lookup return paths so every caller gets a validated result without needing additional checks or an API change. This keeps the sanitization in the common lookup helper, which is cleaner than duplicating validation in each caller.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 9.1 CRITICAL from 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

EPSS: 0.004670000 probability, percentile 0.384550000 (date 2026-08-17)

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67Secondary9.1CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
3.1CNADECLARED9.1CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Linux Linux affected 1e9ea7e04472d4e5e12e58c881eaacfb3e49b669 83f396d881c4fd312c7fd5fff2c157fc21104464 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 1e9ea7e04472d4e5e12e58c881eaacfb3e49b669 d97a36bae86a9a4021562ded2987f904e6bcb1d7 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 7.1 Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 7.1 semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 7.1.5 7.1.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 7.2 * original_commit_for_fix Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
git.kernel.org/stable/c/d97a36bae86a9a4021562ded2987f904e6bcb1d7 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org/stable/c/83f396d881c4fd312c7fd5fff2c157fc21104464 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 git.kernel.org
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NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

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