CVE-2026-72199
CriticalCVSS 9.8Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk9th percentile - higher than 9% of all known CVEs
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the NTFS filesystem now validates resident $INDEX_ROOT values on lookup. Resident $INDEX_ROOT values carry index header fields that callers consume after lookup. Validation of the header fields is added before returning the attribute, requiring 8-byte alignment, a sane entries_offset, index_length within allocated_size, allocated_size within the resident value, and enough entry space for at least an index entry header.
Risk Assessment
Lack of validation could lead to processing invalid data, potentially causing crashes or incorrect system behavior.
Recommendation
Update the kernel to a version with this fix.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: validate resident index root values on lookup Resident $INDEX_ROOT values carry index header fields that callers consume after lookup. Some callers already validate parts of the layout before walking entries, but those checks are scattered and do not cover all root header invariants, such as entries_offset alignment and lower bound, index_length, and allocated_size consistency. The resident root resize paths now keep these header fields consistent while the value size changes: ntfs_ir_truncate() lowers index.allocated_size before shrinking the resident value, and ntfs_ir_reparent() grows the resident value before publishing a larger root header. Lookup-time validation can therefore cover these invariants without tripping over the driver's own resize paths. Add $INDEX_ROOT to the minimum resident value size table and validate the resident index header fields before returning the attribute from lookup. Require 8-byte aligned index header fields, a sane entries_offset, an index_length within allocated_size, allocated_size within the resident value, and enough entry space for at least an index entry header. The shared validator already rejects non-resident records for resident-only attribute types, including $INDEX_ROOT.

