Linux Kernel up to 7.2.6/7.3-rc1 NTFS ntfs_attr_find_in_attrdef out-of-bounds

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.6/7.3-rc1. It has been classified as problematic. This affects the function ntfs_attr_find_in_attrdef of the component NTFS. The manipulation leads to out-of-bounds. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-98136. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.6/7.3-rc1. It has been rated as problematic. This issue affects the function ntfs_attr_find_in_attrdef of the component NTFS. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a out-of-bounds vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-125. The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: bound $AttrDef table walk to the loaded table size ntfs_attr_find_in_attrdef() walks the in-memory $AttrDef table, but the loop condition bounds only the start of each entry, not the whole entry: for (ad = vol->attrdef; (u8 *)ad - (u8 *)vol->attrdef < vol->attrdef_size && ad->type; ++ad) struct attr_def is 160 bytes; the guard reads ad->type at offset 128 and the loop body reads further fields. vol->attrdef is kvzalloc(i_size), where i_size is the on-disk $AttrDef data size, checked in load_and_init_attrdef() only as 0 < i_size <= 0x7fffffff. A volume whose $AttrDef data size is smaller than one entry (e.g. 120 bytes) makes the read of ad->type run past the allocation. Creating a file reaches this through ntfs_attr_size_bounds_check() and reads out of bounds: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in ntfs_attr_find_in_attrdef+0x66/0xa0 Read of size 4 at addr ffff888005833280 by task init/1 ntfs_attr_find_in_attrdef ntfs_attr_size_bounds_check ntfs_attr_can_be_non_resident ntfs_attr_add Require the whole entry to lie within attrdef_size in the loop guard, and reject at mount a $AttrDef too small to hold one attr_def entry.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-98136 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Additional levels of successful authentication are required for exploitation. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. 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 09/25/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.2.7 or 7.3-rc2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 3e2ae47b8ebc632c27e7843a4632d9a7c060885e/c8504fc1245f5322af5fa5c325ab05f9cf792b87 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.3-rc1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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