Linux Kernel ntfs ntfs_attr_fallocate initialization

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel. This affects the function ntfs_attr_fallocate of the component ntfs. The manipulation leads to initialization. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-98137. The attack needs to be performed locally. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to install a patch to address this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Linux Kernel (version now known). This issue affects the function ntfs_attr_fallocate of the component ntfs. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a initialization vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-665. The product does not initialize or incorrectly initializes a resource, which might leave the resource in an unexpected state when it is accessed or used. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: treat any nonzero dio zero-range return as an error ntfs_dio_zero_range() returns either 0 or a negative errno from blkdev_issue_zeroout(); it never returns a positive value. The zeroing failure check in ntfs_attr_fallocate() therefore never fired, so a failed zeroing operation was silently ignored: the loop kept going, the newly allocated clusters were folded into initialized_size and the write could succeed leaving stale on-disk data. Treat any nonzero return as an error and abort the allocation.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-98137 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. An attack has to be approached locally. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/25/2026).

Applying the patch 56392b0d5290ff2b05fc673bc07803b8ae4cfd1b is able to eliminate this problem.

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion