Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

fs/ntfs3: validate index entry key bounds

[BUG]
A malformed NTFS directory index entry can advertise a key_size larger
than the bytes actually present in its NTFS_DE payload. Directory lookup
then passes that malformed key to cmp_fnames(), which can read past the
end of the kmalloc'ed index buffer.

BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in fname_full_size fs/ntfs3/ntfs.h:590 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in cmp_fnames+0x1ea/0x230 fs/ntfs3/index.c:46
Read of size 1 at addr ffff88801c313018 by task syz.6.3365/9279

Call Trace:
__dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline]
dump_stack_lvl+0xbe/0x130 lib/dump_stack.c:120
print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline]
print_report+0xd1/0x650 mm/kasan/report.c:482
kasan_report+0xfb/0x140 mm/kasan/report.c:595
__asan_report_load1_noabort+0x14/0x30 mm/kasan/report_generic.c:378
fname_full_size fs/ntfs3/ntfs.h:590 [inline]
cmp_fnames+0x1ea/0x230 fs/ntfs3/index.c:46
hdr_find_e.isra.0+0x3ed/0x670 fs/ntfs3/index.c:762
indx_find+0x4b5/0x900 fs/ntfs3/index.c:1186
dir_search_u+0x2c0/0x460 fs/ntfs3/dir.c:254
ntfs_lookup+0x1cc/0x2a0 fs/ntfs3/namei.c:85
__lookup_slow+0x241/0x450 fs/namei.c:1816
lookup_slow fs/namei.c:1833 [inline]
walk_component+0x31c/0x570 fs/namei.c:2151
link_path_walk+0x592/0xd60 fs/namei.c:2519
path_lookupat+0x138/0x660 fs/namei.c:2675
filename_lookup+0x1f3/0x560 fs/namei.c:2705
filename_setxattr+0xad/0x1c0 fs/xattr.c:660
path_setxattrat+0x1d8/0x280 fs/xattr.c:713
__do_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:754 [inline]
__se_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:750 [inline]
__x64_sys_lsetxattr+0xd0/0x150 fs/xattr.c:750
...

Allocated by task 9279:
kasan_save_stack+0x39/0x70 mm/kasan/common.c:56
kasan_save_track+0x14/0x40 mm/kasan/common.c:77
kasan_save_alloc_info+0x37/0x60 mm/kasan/generic.c:573
poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:400 [inline]
__kasan_kmalloc+0xc3/0xd0 mm/kasan/common.c:417
kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:262 [inline]
__do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:5650 [inline]
__kmalloc_noprof+0x2bd/0x900 mm/slub.c:5662
kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:961 [inline]
indx_read+0x41d/0xad0 fs/ntfs3/index.c:1059
indx_find+0x447/0x900 fs/ntfs3/index.c:1179
dir_search_u+0x2c0/0x460 fs/ntfs3/dir.c:254
ntfs_lookup+0x1cc/0x2a0 fs/ntfs3/namei.c:85
__lookup_slow+0x241/0x450 fs/namei.c:1816
lookup_slow fs/namei.c:1833 [inline]
walk_component+0x31c/0x570 fs/namei.c:2151
link_path_walk+0x592/0xd60 fs/namei.c:2519
path_lookupat+0x138/0x660 fs/namei.c:2675
filename_lookup+0x1f3/0x560 fs/namei.c:2705
filename_setxattr+0xad/0x1c0 fs/xattr.c:660
path_setxattrat+0x1d8/0x280 fs/xattr.c:713
__do_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:754 [inline]
__se_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:750 [inline]
__x64_sys_lsetxattr+0xd0/0x150 fs/xattr.c:750
...

[CAUSE]
The index-header validators only validated INDEX_HDR-level geometry.
They did not walk each NTFS_DE to verify entry alignment, subnode
layout, or that key_size fit inside the entry payload. They also
allowed a last sentinel entry to carry a non-zero key_size.

[FIX]
Walk every NTFS_DE in ntfs3's index-header validators and reject
entries with invalid layout, mismatched subnode state, oversized
key_size, or non-zero sentinel keys before lookup or log replay can
consume them.
Published: 2026-09-24
Score: n/a
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: Kernel out-of-bounds read that can lead to crashes or information leakage
Action: Apply Patch
AI Analysis

Impact

The NTFS3 driver in the Linux kernel failed to validate the size of directory index entries. A crafted entry can advertise a key size larger than the actual payload, causing the kernel to read past the end of the buffer during a directory lookup or extended‑attribute operation. This slab out‑of‑bounds read can leak kernel memory or trigger a kernel panic, compromising confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the system.

Affected Systems

All Linux kernel releases that ship with the default NTFS3 driver before the security patch are affected. The advisory does not list specific version numbers, so any distribution that mounts NTFS volumes using the unpatched driver is considered vulnerable.

Risk and Exploitability

Based on the description, it is inferred that an attacker would need to supply a malicious NTFS filesystem image that the system can mount with the NTFS3 module, indicating local or remote access sufficient to write to a storage medium. No public exploits have been reported and the CVE is not listed in CISA’s KEV catalog. With no CVSS or EPSS score provided, the severity is unspecified, but the potential for a kernel crash or data leakage suggests a high impact if an attacker can supply the payload. The overall risk level until a patch is applied can be considered moderate to high, especially on systems that mount untrusted media.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on September 25, 2026 at 04:08 UTC.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Apply a Linux kernel update that contains the ntfs3 index‑header validation patch.
  • If an immediate update is not possible, disable NTFS3 support by removing or unloading the ntfs3 module, or configure the system to mount NTFS volumes only from trusted media.
  • Verify that any NTFS volumes being mounted have been integrity‑checked with tools such as win_ntfsck, or use diagnostics to detect malformed directories before use.
  • Restrict mounting of NTFS filesystems to privileged users only and audit mount events for anomalous activity.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on September 25, 2026 at 04:08 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories yet.

History

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 04:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-125

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: validate index entry key bounds [BUG] A malformed NTFS directory index entry can advertise a key_size larger than the bytes actually present in its NTFS_DE payload. Directory lookup then passes that malformed key to cmp_fnames(), which can read past the end of the kmalloc'ed index buffer. BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in fname_full_size fs/ntfs3/ntfs.h:590 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in cmp_fnames+0x1ea/0x230 fs/ntfs3/index.c:46 Read of size 1 at addr ffff88801c313018 by task syz.6.3365/9279 Call Trace: __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0xbe/0x130 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0xd1/0x650 mm/kasan/report.c:482 kasan_report+0xfb/0x140 mm/kasan/report.c:595 __asan_report_load1_noabort+0x14/0x30 mm/kasan/report_generic.c:378 fname_full_size fs/ntfs3/ntfs.h:590 [inline] cmp_fnames+0x1ea/0x230 fs/ntfs3/index.c:46 hdr_find_e.isra.0+0x3ed/0x670 fs/ntfs3/index.c:762 indx_find+0x4b5/0x900 fs/ntfs3/index.c:1186 dir_search_u+0x2c0/0x460 fs/ntfs3/dir.c:254 ntfs_lookup+0x1cc/0x2a0 fs/ntfs3/namei.c:85 __lookup_slow+0x241/0x450 fs/namei.c:1816 lookup_slow fs/namei.c:1833 [inline] walk_component+0x31c/0x570 fs/namei.c:2151 link_path_walk+0x592/0xd60 fs/namei.c:2519 path_lookupat+0x138/0x660 fs/namei.c:2675 filename_lookup+0x1f3/0x560 fs/namei.c:2705 filename_setxattr+0xad/0x1c0 fs/xattr.c:660 path_setxattrat+0x1d8/0x280 fs/xattr.c:713 __do_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:754 [inline] __se_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:750 [inline] __x64_sys_lsetxattr+0xd0/0x150 fs/xattr.c:750 ... Allocated by task 9279: kasan_save_stack+0x39/0x70 mm/kasan/common.c:56 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x40 mm/kasan/common.c:77 kasan_save_alloc_info+0x37/0x60 mm/kasan/generic.c:573 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:400 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0xc3/0xd0 mm/kasan/common.c:417 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:262 [inline] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:5650 [inline] __kmalloc_noprof+0x2bd/0x900 mm/slub.c:5662 kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:961 [inline] indx_read+0x41d/0xad0 fs/ntfs3/index.c:1059 indx_find+0x447/0x900 fs/ntfs3/index.c:1179 dir_search_u+0x2c0/0x460 fs/ntfs3/dir.c:254 ntfs_lookup+0x1cc/0x2a0 fs/ntfs3/namei.c:85 __lookup_slow+0x241/0x450 fs/namei.c:1816 lookup_slow fs/namei.c:1833 [inline] walk_component+0x31c/0x570 fs/namei.c:2151 link_path_walk+0x592/0xd60 fs/namei.c:2519 path_lookupat+0x138/0x660 fs/namei.c:2675 filename_lookup+0x1f3/0x560 fs/namei.c:2705 filename_setxattr+0xad/0x1c0 fs/xattr.c:660 path_setxattrat+0x1d8/0x280 fs/xattr.c:713 __do_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:754 [inline] __se_sys_lsetxattr fs/xattr.c:750 [inline] __x64_sys_lsetxattr+0xd0/0x150 fs/xattr.c:750 ... [CAUSE] The index-header validators only validated INDEX_HDR-level geometry. They did not walk each NTFS_DE to verify entry alignment, subnode layout, or that key_size fit inside the entry payload. They also allowed a last sentinel entry to carry a non-zero key_size. [FIX] Walk every NTFS_DE in ntfs3's index-header validators and reject entries with invalid layout, mismatched subnode state, oversized key_size, or non-zero sentinel keys before lookup or log replay can consume them.
Title fs/ntfs3: validate index entry key bounds
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-09-24T16:03:51.466Z

Reserved: 2026-09-24T14:53:16.869Z

Link: CVE-2026-97438

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-09-24T17:17:21.930

Modified: 2026-09-24T17:17:21.930

Link: CVE-2026-97438

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-09-25T04:15:13Z

Weaknesses