Missing lock in Linux kernel NTFS write fault handler
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
The NTFS driver in the Linux kernel from 7.1 calls iomap_page_mkwrite() in ntfs_filemap_page_mkwrite() without holding mapping->invalidate_lock. A write fault can therefore run while a concurrent truncate or fallocate is invalidating pagecache and rewriting the runlist.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: take invalidate_lock in ntfs_filemap_page_mkwrite() ntfs_filemap_page_mkwrite() calls iomap_page_mkwrite() without holding mapping->invalidate_lock, so a concurrent truncate or fallocate can be in the middle of invalidating pagecache and rewriting the runlist while the write fault maps blocks and dirties the folio. This races with ntfs_attr_fallocate(), which merges clusters into the in-memory runlist, drops the runlist lock, and only afterwards zeroes the newly allocated clusters on disk; and with the punch-hole/insert/collapse paths that free clusters after truncating the cache. Per Documentation/filesystems/locking.rst, ->page_mkwrite() must ensure there are no truncate/invalidate races, "usually mapping->invalidate_lock is suitable for proper serialization". xfs takes its mmaplock (= the invalidate_lock rwsem) shared in exactly this path. Take invalidate_lock shared around iomap_page_mkwrite(). The read-only fault path is already covered because filemap_fault() itself grabs invalidate_lock shared on instantiation/read paths; only page_mkwrite was bypassing it in this driver.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Upgrade the Linux kernel to 7.2.14 or 7.3.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 7.2.14, 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
- 2026-11-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-99241
- 2026-11-02 Alias added: GHSA-p585-6wv8-qrvx
- 2026-11-04 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 CVSS score added · Red Hat
References
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Sources
- CVE-2026-99241 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-99241 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-p585-6wv8-qrvx · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-99241 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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