CVE-2026-72207

Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source

AV:NAttack vector, network

ntfs_resident_attr_resize() is reached from VFS write/truncate/fallocate paths (ntfs_attr_expand, __ntfs_attr_truncate_vfs); fs/ntfs registers ntfs_export_ops, so remote NFS or ksmbd clients writing to an exported rw NTFS share can trigger the corrupting conversion without local shell access.

AC:LAttack complexity, low

An attacker can deterministically pack an MFT record with a resident 0-byte $DATA attribute plus other resident attributes, then grow a different resident attribute to force -ENOSPC and select that $DATA for conversion; no races or victim-specific memory layout are required.

PR:NPrivileges required, none

Exploitation requires only permission to write or truncate files on a mounted NTFS volume (local user with directory write access, authenticated SMB/NFS client, or guest/anonymous write on a misconfigured export); mounting is environmental setup, not a privilege needed during the trigger.

UI:NUser interaction, none

Once an administrator has rw-mounted and optionally exported the NTFS volume (or automounted dual-boot/shared storage), the attacker drives write/truncate operations that exhaust MFT record space; no further victim clicks, opens, or cooperative actions are required beyond that standing configuration.

S:UScope, unchanged

Impact is confined to on-disk NTFS $DATA metadata corruption and subsequent filesystem operation failure within the host kernel/filesystem security authority; this is standard local or network filesystem exploitation, not a VM escape or cross-authority sandbox breakout.

C:HConfidentiality impact, high

Converting a 0-byte resident $DATA to non-resident writes structurally invalid on-disk metadata that ntfsck/fsck treat as corruption; subsequent attribute lookups and data reads on the affected inode parse attacker-influenced corrupt non-resident layout and may read beyond intended attribute bounds.

I:HIntegrity impact, high

The bug persistently corrupts MFT $DATA records by creating invalid 0-byte non-resident attributes, enabling attacker-steerable on-disk metadata modification beyond the intended filesystem state that repair tools flag as corruption and that can render affected files or volumes inconsistent across OSes.

A:HAvailability impact, high

Corrupt 0-byte non-resident $DATA attributes cause fsck/ntfsck failures and can leave affected files or volumes unusable on remount or when accessed from Windows or Linux; persistent on-disk corruption that blocks reliable filesystem access scores Availability High.