CVE-2026-97438
HighCVSS 7.1Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk2th percentile - higher than 2% of all known CVEs
Summary
A vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's fs/ntfs3 module due to missing validation of index entry key bounds. A malformed NTFS directory index entry can advertise a key_size larger than the bytes actually present in its payload, causing an out-of-bounds read in cmp_fnames().
Risk Assessment
The flaw allows a local attacker to trigger a slab-out-of-bounds read during directory lookup on a mounted NTFS filesystem, potentially leaking kernel memory or causing a system crash (denial of service).
Recommendation
Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that validates NTFS index entry key bounds (fs/ntfs3). Until patched, avoid mounting untrusted NTFS images or media.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel (fs/ntfs3)
See all- CVE-2026-90200Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the ntfs_init_from_boot() function in the fs/ntfs3 driver has an integer overflow when validating MFT cluster numbers from the boot sector. The multiplication mlcn * sct_per_clst is performed in u64 and can wrap for large mlcn values, bypassing the volume size check and accepting a malformed record. In practice this causes NTFS mounts to fail in odd places.
- CVE-2026-89779Critical
In the Linux kernel, fs/ntfs3's ntfs_read_ea() does not verify that the EA record's ef->size is large enough to hold the record's name and value. A crafted NTFS image can set a small ef->size with a large elength, causing an out-of-bounds read past the allocated buffer and leaking kernel heap memory to userspace via getxattr().
- CVE-2026-89782High
A vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's fs/ntfs3 module due to missing validation of restart table growth during $LogFile replay. When mounting a crafted NTFS image, an entry count exceeding U16_MAX is truncated, causing allocation of a table smaller than required and an out-of-bounds access.
- CVE-2026-89617High
In the Linux kernel, the fs/ntfs3 driver does not validate the dirty page table during log replay. A crafted DIR_PAGE_ENTRY with an invalid lcns_follow field lets the v0->v1 conversion and later replay passes run off the entry.
- CVE-2026-89616High
In the Linux kernel, ni_read_frame() in fs/ntfs3 trusts decompress_lznt()'s return value, which may be smaller than the frame size. Unwritten bytes remain in the vmapped pages and are returned to userspace, disclosing uninitialized kernel memory.
- CVE-2026-89615High
In the Linux kernel, the copy_lcns and redo shorten loops in fs/ntfs3 index page_lcns[] based on the log record's lcns_follow, which is not checked against the target entry. A crafted record can overflow page_lcns[] of an otherwise valid entry.
- CVE-2026-45864Medium
In the Linux kernel's NTFS3 filesystem, an infinite loop vulnerability was found when processing the range [valid : pos). If the valid value cannot be read correctly and remains the same, a process hang may occur, as reported by syzbot. A check was added to detect unchanged valid values and return -EINVAL.
- CVE-2025-71311High
In the Linux kernel, the NTFS3 filesystem has a vulnerability involving the use of uninitialized folios. Newly allocated folios are not marked as uptodate, and the ni_read_frame() function is skipped when the caller expects the frame to be completely overwritten, leaving part of the memory uninitialized.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: validate index entry key bounds [BUG] A malformed NTFS directory index entry can advertise a key_size larger than the bytes actually present in its NTFS_DE payload. Directory lookup then passes that malformed key to cmp_fnames(), which can read past the end of the kmalloc'ed index buffer. BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in fname_full_size fs/ntfs3/ntfs.h:590 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in cmp_fnames+0x1ea/0x230 fs/ntfs3/index.c:46 Read of size 1 at addr ffff88801c313018 by task syz.6.3365/9279 Call Trace: __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0xbe/0x130 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0xd1/0x650 mm/kasan/report.c:482 kasan_report+0xfb/0x140 mm/kasan/report.c:595 __asan_report_load1_noabort+0x14/0x30 mm/kasan/report_generic.c:378 fname_full_size fs/ntfs3/ntfs.h:590 [inline] cmp_fnames+0x1ea/0x230 fs/ntfs3/index.c:46 hdr_find_e.isra.0+0x3ed/0x670 fs/ntfs3/index.c:762 indx_find+0x4b5/0x900 fs/ntfs3/index.c:1186 dir_search_u+0x2c0/0x460 fs/ntfs3/dir.c:254 ntfs_lookup+0x1cc/0x2a0 fs/ntfs3/namei.c:85 __lookup_slow+0x241/0x450 fs/namei.c:1816 lookup_slow fs/namei.c:1833 [inline] walk_component+0x31c/0x570 fs/namei.c:2151 link_path_walk+0x592/0xd60 fs/namei.c:2519 path_lookupat+0x138/0x660 fs/namei.c:2675 filename_lookup+0x1f3/0x560 fs/namei.c:2705 filename_setxattr+0xad/0x1c0 fs/xattr.c:660 path_setxattrat+0x1d8/0x280 fs/xattr.c:713 __do_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:754 [inline] __se_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:750 [inline] __x64_sys_lsetxattr+0xd0/0x150 fs/xattr.c:750 ... Allocated by task 9279: kasan_save_stack+0x39/0x70 mm/kasan/common.c:56 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x40 mm/kasan/common.c:77 kasan_save_alloc_info+0x37/0x60 mm/kasan/generic.c:573 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:400 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0xc3/0xd0 mm/kasan/common.c:417 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:262 [inline] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:5650 [inline] __kmalloc_noprof+0x2bd/0x900 mm/slub.c:5662 kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:961 [inline] indx_read+0x41d/0xad0 fs/ntfs3/index.c:1059 indx_find+0x447/0x900 fs/ntfs3/index.c:1179 dir_search_u+0x2c0/0x460 fs/ntfs3/dir.c:254 ntfs_lookup+0x1cc/0x2a0 fs/ntfs3/namei.c:85 __lookup_slow+0x241/0x450 fs/namei.c:1816 lookup_slow fs/namei.c:1833 [inline] walk_component+0x31c/0x570 fs/namei.c:2151 link_path_walk+0x592/0xd60 fs/namei.c:2519 path_lookupat+0x138/0x660 fs/namei.c:2675 filename_lookup+0x1f3/0x560 fs/namei.c:2705 filename_setxattr+0xad/0x1c0 fs/xattr.c:660 path_setxattrat+0x1d8/0x280 fs/xattr.c:713 __do_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:754 [inline] __se_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:750 [inline] __x64_sys_lsetxattr+0xd0/0x150 fs/xattr.c:750 ... [CAUSE] The index-header validators only validated INDEX_HDR-level geometry. They did not walk each NTFS_DE to verify entry alignment, subnode layout, or that key_size fit inside the entry payload. They also allowed a last sentinel entry to carry a non-zero key_size. [FIX] Walk every NTFS_DE in ntfs3's index-header validators and reject entries with invalid layout, mismatched subnode state, oversized key_size, or non-zero sentinel keys before lookup or log replay can consume them.
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS