Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4 ntfs ntfs_mapping_pairs_decompress off-by-one

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. This impacts the function ntfs_mapping_pairs_decompress of the component ntfs. The manipulation results in off-by-one. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-72210. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. Affected is the function ntfs_mapping_pairs_decompress of the component ntfs. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a off-by-one vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-193. A product calculates or uses an incorrect maximum or minimum value that is 1 more, or 1 less, than the correct value. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: fix off-by-one in mapping pairs decoding bounds checks In ntfs_mapping_pairs_decompress(), attr_end points one byte past the end of the attribute record: attr_end = (u8 *)attr + le32_to_cpu(attr->length); The two bounds checks validating that mapping pair data bytes fit within the attribute use strict greater-than (>), which allows a one-byte out-of-bounds read when the data extends exactly to attr_end: b = *buf & 0xf; if (b) { if (unlikely(buf + b > attr_end)) // off-by-one goto io_error; for (deltaxcn = (s8)buf[b--]; b; b--) deltaxcn = (deltaxcn << 8) + buf[b]; } When buf + b == attr_end, the check evaluates to false and buf[b] reads one byte past the valid attribute boundary. The same pattern appears in the LCN delta bytes check. Fix both checks to use >= so that buf[b] at exactly attr_end is correctly rejected as out of bounds.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-72210 since 08/09/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch bfe835e535fe0aa5767fdd8116f62e835ba50b55/18760a74ef7c28df93726445b5595162e62ed341 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

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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