fs/ntfs3: bound DeleteIndexEntryAllocation memmove length
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: bound DeleteIndexEntryAllocation memmove length In do_action()'s DeleteIndexEntryAllocation case, e->size comes from an on-disk INDEX_BUFFER entry. When e->size makes e + e->size point past hdr + hdr->used, PtrOffset(e1, Add2Ptr(hdr, used)) returns a negative ptrdiff_t that is silently cast to a quasi-infinite size_t when passed to memmove(). The memmove then walks past the destination buffer. The sibling DeleteIndexEntryRoot case at fslog.c:3540-3543 already carries the corresponding guard: if (PtrOffset(e1, Add2Ptr(hdr, used)) < esize || Add2Ptr(e, esize) > Add2Ptr(lrh, rec_len) || used + esize > le32_to_cpu(hdr->total)) { goto dirty_vol; } Apply the same shape to the allocation-path case. Also reject esize == 0: memmove(e, e, ...) is a no-op and leaves hdr->used unchanged, hiding a malformed entry from the existing check_index_header() walk. Reproduced under UML+KASAN on mainline 8d90b09e6741 by mounting a crafted NTFS image: the unguarded memmove takes a length of 0xffffffffffffff00 and the kernel oopses in memmove+0x81/0x1a0 on the do_action+0x36a2 frame. [[email protected]: clang-formatted the changes]
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-72197
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-j9fv-qm2v-gr26
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c38ed2ab62fab75fd6d0fdc2bee540fbebc7b959
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b509b9613f20dc5b653d54bf78fab00d79cc43c8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4c8aac931c1cd70347961ba5157aa916448c6a25
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f383aae59ec3994c14804f4191c59038b206be81
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/09fddd52c1b0cef2c086d61be8f3d5dc92e36565
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/554700c65d398276cb00a8ef95f1d5e00b9eff93
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fc4626bb3656362de8b0ecd56605d47a19ec3518
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Sources
- CVE-2026-72197 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-72197 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-j9fv-qm2v-gr26 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-72197 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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