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CVE-2026-72208 (GCVE-0-2026-72208)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-15 05:54 – Updated: 2026-08-18 06:56
VLAI
Title
ntfs: add bounds check before accessing EA entries
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: add bounds check before accessing EA entries in ntfs_ea_lookup and ntfs_listxattr, this verifies that there is enough space in the EA entry before accessing the next_entry_offset field of the EA entry.
Severity
9.8 (Critical)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: c451d34ae14201c2bb40652bf74072a79ff82f7d , < d9d9925de1d8f233cc60d3dc356e12f232f97c15 (git)
Affected: c451d34ae14201c2bb40652bf74072a79ff82f7d , < 937282f7d15b593d0be765fa2ced164130ec87f7 (git)
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Linux Linux Affected: 7.1
Unaffected: 0 , < 7.1 (semver)
Unaffected: 7.1.5 , ≤ 7.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.2 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
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          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "fs/ntfs/ea.c"
          ],
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                  "versionStartIncluding": "7.1",
                  "vulnerable": true
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        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
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            "baseScore": 9.8,
            "baseSeverity": "CRITICAL",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "AV:N - NTFS registers NFS export ops and is commonly served via nfsd/ksmbd; remote SMB/NFS OPEN, GETXATTR, or LISTXATTRS on an exported NTFS volume reaches ntfs_ea_lookup/ntfs_listxattr on the server without local login.\nAC:L - Triggering is deterministic once a crafted $EA/$EA_INFORMATION chain is on disk; the attacker controls next_entry_offset values to land with fewer than sizeof(struct ea_attr) bytes left, forcing the out-of-bounds read every time.\nPR:N - Exploitation needs only permission to access files on an exported NTFS share (e.g., guest/anonymous SMB or world-readable NFS); no root, CAP_SYS_ADMIN, or init-namespace privileges are required on the server to hit the parser.\nUI:N - After the NTFS volume is mounted server-side, a remote client can trigger parsing automatically via normal file open or xattr RPCs; no additional victim interaction is needed per attack.\nS:U - Impact is confined to kernel memory and privileges on the host parsing the NTFS image; it does not cross a VM, container, or IOMMU security boundary by itself.\nC:H - The bug reads struct ea_attr fields past the bounded EA query length before validation, causing an out-of-bounds kernel heap read that can disclose adjacent slab memory and feed attacker-influenced values into further EA parsing.\nI:H - Malformed next_entry_offset chaining drives additional unchecked memcmp/memcpy over attacker-chosen offsets inside the EA buffer, providing standard kernel heap grooming primitives that can be developed into arbitrary memory corruption and code execution.\nA:H - Reading EA headers beyond the allocated or mapped buffer can provoke a kernel oops or panic; even failed exploitation still corrupts kernel parsing state and can crash the affected host on repeated access."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-18T06:56:28.443Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d9d9925de1d8f233cc60d3dc356e12f232f97c15"
        },
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/937282f7d15b593d0be765fa2ced164130ec87f7"
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    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-72208",
    "datePublished": "2026-08-15T05:54:04.022Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-08-09T03:40:39.912Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-18T06:56:28.443Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
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    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "Moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-08-18T16:28:54+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-72208",
      "id": "CVE-2026-72208",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-08-15T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "274",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: ntfs: add bounds check before accessing EA entries",
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      "version": "3"
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      "current_release_date": "2026-08-21T00:42:31Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-72208",
      "id": "CVE-2026-72208",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-08-21T00:42:31Z",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "284",
      "source": "SUSE CSAF VEX",
      "status": "interim",
      "title": "SUSE CVE CVE-2026-72208",
      "url": "https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/csaf-vex/cve-2026-72208.json",
      "version": "2"
    }
  }
}



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  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
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  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


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