Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4/7.2-rc2 NTFS ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name input validation

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4/7.2-rc2. This vulnerability affects the function ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name of the component NTFS. This manipulation causes input validation. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2026-72188. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4/7.2-rc2 and classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name of the component NTFS. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a input validation vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-20. The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: sanitize MFT references returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() returns MFT references read from directory index entries on disk. These values are untrusted, but the function can currently return an error-marked MFT reference to its callers without validating it. Callers later decode lookup failures with MREF_ERR(). A crafted NTFS image can set the MREF error bit while leaving the low bits as an arbitrary value, causing callers to consume a bogus pseudo-errno instead of treating the lookup result as corrupted on-disk metadata. Fix this at the source by normalizing every error-marked MFT reference returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() to ERR_MREF(-EIO). Apply this to all four directory lookup return paths so every caller gets a validated result without needing additional checks or an API change. This keeps the sanitization in the common lookup helper, which is cleaner than duplicating validation in each caller.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-72188 since 08/09/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 83f396d881c4fd312c7fd5fff2c157fc21104464/d97a36bae86a9a4021562ded2987f904e6bcb1d7 is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4
• 7.2-rc1
• 7.2-rc2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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