Linux Kernel ntfs3 fs/ntfs3/frecord.c ni_seek_data_or_hole uninitialized variable

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel. It has been classified as very critical. Affected is the function ni_seek_data_or_hole of the file fs/ntfs3/frecord.c of the component ntfs3. The manipulation leads to uninitialized variable. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2026-72471. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel (unknown version) and classified as very critical. This issue affects the function ni_seek_data_or_hole of the file fs/ntfs3/frecord.c of the component ntfs3. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a uninitialized variable vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-457. The code uses a variable that has not been initialized, leading to unpredictable or unintended results. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: prevent potential lcn remains uninitialized The target VCN being sought was not found within runs[0], causing run_lookup() to return false. This causes run_lookup_entry() to return false, which in turn results in a len value of 0, and the new parameter passed to attr_data_get_block() is NULL. Collectively, these factors ultimately cause attr_data_get_block_locked() to exit prematurely without initializing lcn, thereby triggering [1]. To prevent [1], the clen check within ni_seek_data_or_hole() has been moved to occur before the lcn check. [1] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in ni_seek_data_or_hole+0x24f/0x5f0 fs/ntfs3/frecord.c:2862 ni_seek_data_or_hole+0x24f/0x5f0 fs/ntfs3/frecord.c:2862 ntfs_llseek+0x22a/0x4a0 fs/ntfs3/file.c:1530 vfs_llseek fs/read_write.c:391 [inline]

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-72471 since 08/09/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Applying the patch 7ae7e98b71438c494532492cbf58fc0d7f7988bb/57ac2831c8e0f168090d38e3de758c6a59db44db is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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