ntfs: reject invalid sectors_per_cluster in the boot sector
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: reject invalid sectors_per_cluster in the boot sector is_boot_sector_ntfs() checks the boot sector's sectors_per_cluster field with a range test that rejects 0x81..0xf3 but accepts 0 and other non-power-of-two counts. A zero value reaches parse_ntfs_boot_sector(): sectors_per_cluster_bits = ffs(sectors_per_cluster) - 1; ... vol->cluster_size = vol->sector_size << sectors_per_cluster_bits; ffs(0) is 0, so sectors_per_cluster_bits becomes (unsigned)-1 and the shift is undefined: UBSAN: shift-out-of-bounds in fs/ntfs/super.c:673:39 shift exponent 4294967295 is too large for 32-bit type 'int' This change rejects any non-power-of-two value, since it feeds the aforementioned shift via ffs() - 1, which only yields the correct shift for a power of two.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 7.1 and later | 7.2.7, 7.3 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 7.1 and later Fixed in 7.2.7, 7.3 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 7.2.7, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 7 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
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98135
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-vhjh-88x6-7w6p
- 2026-10-09 CVSS score added · NVD
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-98135 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98135 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-vhjh-88x6-7w6p · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98135 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences