ntfs: skip extent mft records in writeback to prevent deadlock
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · 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: ntfs: skip extent mft records in writeback to prevent deadlock This patch fixes the ABBA deadlock between extent_lock and extent mrec_lock triggered by xfstests generic/113, that occurs since the commit 6994acf33bae ("ntfs: use base mft_no when looking up base inode for extent record"). Path A (inode writeback): VFS writeback -> ntfs_write_inode() -> __ntfs_write_inode() -> mutex_lock(&ni->extent_lock) -> mutex_lock(&tni->mrec_lock) Path B (MFT folio writeback): VFS writeback of $MFT dirty folios -> ntfs_mft_writepages() -> ntfs_write_mft_block() -> ntfs_may_write_mft_record() -> holds one extent mrec_lock from a previous iteration -> tries to acquire another base inode extent_lock By removing all extent_lock and extent mrec_lock acquisition from the MFT folio writeback path, the ABBA lock ordering is eliminated: Path A: __ntfs_write_inode(): extent_lock -> mrec_lock Path B (removed): ntfs_write_mft_block(): mrec_lock -> extent_lock Path B is always redundant for extent records because: 1. mark_mft_record_dirty(ext_ni) does NOT dirty the MFT folio. It only sets NInoDirty(ext_ni) and marks the base VFS inode dirty via __mark_inode_dirty(I_DIRTY_DATASYNC), which triggers Path A. Therefore, normal extent modifications never create a situation where the MFT folio is dirty and Path B is not scheduled. 2. The MFT folio only gets dirtied via ntfs_mft_mark_dirty() inside ntfs_mft_record_alloc(). But all identified callers in attrib.c (ntfs_attr_add, ntfs_attr_record_move_away, ntfs_attr_make_non_resident, ntfs_attr_record_resize) follow through with mark_mft_record_dirty(), which triggers Path A to write the complete record. 3. ntfs_evict_big_inode() calls ntfs_commit_inode() before freeing extent inodes, ensuring all dirty extents are flushed via Path A before the base inode leaves the icache.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.9, 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-2026-72203
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-p3pr-3qq8-w67c
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@6626fb859f4c4772f2f59751d23937716e03f98f · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-28 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@b06b4fc2138ded8ee0b3dc602991ff6dbb10dd0a · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b06b4fc2138ded8ee0b3dc602991ff6dbb10dd0a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6626fb859f4c4772f2f59751d23937716e03f98f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ffa8f3d30236e0ab897c30bdb01224ff1fe1c89
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f831ab09d521898bf1dd99bf5adfd630ea1428e3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/76bc14c7097ff678b2b5dbfd4fa33b46897d87ce
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Sources
- CVE-2026-72203 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-72203 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-p3pr-3qq8-w67c · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-72203 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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