Critical severity · published Aug 15, 2026
CVE-2026-72192
ntfs3: bound to_move in indx_insert_into_root before hdr_insert_head
9.8
CVSS
0.7%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ntfs3: bound to_move in indx_insert_into_root before hdr_insert_head
indx_insert_into_root() promotes a full resident $INDEX_ROOT into
$INDEX_ALLOCATION and copies all non-last resident root entries into
a newly allocated INDEX_BUFFER via hdr_insert_head(). The source
byte count 'to_move' is summed from the on-disk resident entry sizes
and is independent of the destination buffer size, which comes from
root->index_block_size (via indx->index_bits).
A crafted NTFS image that keeps a valid, full resident root but
shrinks root->index_block_size down to 512 after the root has been
populated makes hdr_insert_head() memcpy attacker-controlled resident
entry bytes past the end of the kmalloc(1u << indx->index_bits)
allocation returned by indx_new(). For a 512-byte destination and a
resident root whose non-last entries total 560 bytes, the memcpy
overruns by 120 bytes and a following memmove extends the highest
written offset to 136 bytes past the allocation. The overflow bytes
are a direct copy of on-disk entries (via kmemdup), so they are
fully attacker-controlled.
The write is reachable from unprivileged open(O_CREAT) on a mounted
crafted NTFS image: a single sufficiently long create in a directory
whose resident root is already full forces root promotion and
triggers the copy.
This is a controlled out-of-bounds write of 120-136 bytes past a
kmalloc(index_block_size) allocation, with attacker-controlled
content. It is a bounded adjacent-heap corruption primitive; it is
not an arbitrary-address write. Successful exploitation into a named
victim object depends on the surrounding slab layout.
Reject the copy at the sink. The destination's INDEX_HDR already
reports hdr_total (the payload capacity of the new buffer) and
hdr_used (the bytes already consumed by the terminal END entry
installed by indx_new()); require that to_move fits in the remaining
payload before calling hdr_insert_head(). On mismatch, fail with
-EINVAL and mark the filesystem as having a detected on-disk
inconsistency, which is the same behaviour as the surrounding
validation in this function.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.7% · higher than 54% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
LI
Linux · Linux
82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 before 0af83b8155cc848e9f5d2c36e20a70d024214649; 82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 before cb3161deebcaf8d36d3115abf452c633f2180fc1; 82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 before 53c5f3b2da3774b41534728aba295c098c9efa19; 82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 before 194b00c99ba971fa7cf6acd747a36032c6de54eb; 82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 before aaa1f956c0fc41089a4a534da7df91552a08a47c; 82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 before d240f5f9d036b8180224954d9873f172b6be4dd8; +2 more · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72192
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72192
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0af83b8155cc848e9f5d2c36e20a70d024214649
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/194b00c99ba971fa7cf6acd747a36032c6de54eb
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53c5f3b2da3774b41534728aba295c098c9efa19
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b6926ac9c970ae0b2c2fe6289b16e9aa10b6a67
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aaa1f956c0fc41089a4a534da7df91552a08a47c
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cb3161deebcaf8d36d3115abf452c633f2180fc1
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