GHSA-MC37-VG5J-FCFG
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-08-15 06:32 – Updated: 2026-08-17 06:33In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ntfs: validate attribute values on lookup
ntfs_attr_find() and ntfs_external_attr_find() check that generic resident attribute values fit in their attribute records and that fixed-size resident values are large enough. For variable-length resident formats, however, the fixed part is not enough: embedded length fields can still point callers past the resident value.
A crafted image can set a small resident $FILE_NAME value_length while leaving file_name_length large. Callers then trust file_name_length and read past the resident value when converting or comparing the name. This was reproduced with a crafted image under KASAN as a slab-out-of-bounds read from the kmalloc-1k MFT record copy. The stack included ntfs_lookup(), ntfs_iget(), ntfs_read_locked_inode(), ntfs_attr_name_get(), ntfs_ucstonls(), and utf16s_to_utf8s().
Add a shared attribute value validator and use it before a lookup path can return an attribute, including the AT_UNUSED enumeration case where callers inspect returned attributes directly. The helper validates resident value bounds, minimum resident value sizes, variable-length $FILE_NAME fields, and non-resident mapping-pairs metadata that was previously checked separately in both lookup paths.
This also preserves the intended resident @val matching semantics in the external attribute lookup path. The old duplicated validation block overwrote the actual resident value length with the type-specific minimum length before comparing @val, so variable-length resident values could fail to match even when the bytes were identical. Keep the comparison on the actual value length, and make ntfs_attrlist_entry_add() compare resident attributes with lowest_vcn zero instead of reading the non-resident union member after a successful resident match.
Reject non-resident $FILE_NAME records too: the format requires $FILE_NAME to be resident and callers treat returned records as resident.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-72209"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-08-15T06:21:39Z",
"severity": "CRITICAL"
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nntfs: validate attribute values on lookup\n\nntfs_attr_find() and ntfs_external_attr_find() check that generic\nresident attribute values fit in their attribute records and that\nfixed-size resident values are large enough. For variable-length resident\nformats, however, the fixed part is not enough: embedded length fields\ncan still point callers past the resident value.\n\nA crafted image can set a small resident $FILE_NAME value_length while\nleaving file_name_length large. Callers then trust file_name_length and\nread past the resident value when converting or comparing the name. This\nwas reproduced with a crafted image under KASAN as a slab-out-of-bounds\nread from the kmalloc-1k MFT record copy. The stack included\nntfs_lookup(), ntfs_iget(), ntfs_read_locked_inode(), ntfs_attr_name_get(),\nntfs_ucstonls(), and utf16s_to_utf8s().\n\nAdd a shared attribute value validator and use it before a lookup path\ncan return an attribute, including the AT_UNUSED enumeration case where\ncallers inspect returned attributes directly. The helper validates\nresident value bounds, minimum resident value sizes, variable-length\n$FILE_NAME fields, and non-resident mapping-pairs metadata that was\npreviously checked separately in both lookup paths.\n\nThis also preserves the intended resident @val matching semantics in the\nexternal attribute lookup path. The old duplicated validation block\noverwrote the actual resident value length with the type-specific minimum\nlength before comparing @val, so variable-length resident values could\nfail to match even when the bytes were identical. Keep the comparison on\nthe actual value length, and make ntfs_attrlist_entry_add() compare\nresident attributes with lowest_vcn zero instead of reading the\nnon-resident union member after a successful resident match.\n\nReject non-resident $FILE_NAME records too: the format requires\n$FILE_NAME to be resident and callers treat returned records as resident.",
"id": "GHSA-mc37-vg5j-fcfg",
"modified": "2026-08-17T06:33:16Z",
"published": "2026-08-15T06:32:16Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72209"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5803e3345dae9c6470bb61869885236276b9a35"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e4c36dfac57a7261e9aeb0f3a7f30944a8aefb56"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- 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.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- 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.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.