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CVE-2026-89612
ntfs: reject invalid MFT LCNs from boot sector
Published 2026-09-11 (37 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem fs/ntfs. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-89612 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | not affected | 6.12.113-1 | Nothing to do. trixie never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
The NTFS boot sector stores the MFT and MFTMirr locations as unsigned 64-bit LCNs, but parse_ntfs_boot_sector() decoded them into an s64. A crafted high-bit value could therefore become negative and pass the existing upper-bound check. The invalid value then propagated into the MFT zone allocator and could result in an out-of-bounds access to lcn_empty_bits_per_page.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
fs/ntfs/super.c
- What this is
- NTFS FILESYSTEMMAINTAINERS section matched on fs/ntfs/ · linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- ntfs
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_NTFS_FS /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w ntfsPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian does not build this code in 1 release. It does build it in 2 releases, so the answer depends on which release the machine runs. The build rule could not be established for 1 release, so nothing is claimed about those.
- bookwormn
- trixie?
- forky, sidm
- n
- not enabled on any flavour - this release does not build the code
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.
- Build switch
- CONFIG_NTFS_FS
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-09-11 (37 days ago)source
- CVSS
- 9.8 critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- network (AV:N)source
- EPSS
- 0.55%, higher than 45.0% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- fs/ntfs
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | 7.2.4 | 8f8420b68a6f |
| 7.1 | 7.3 | cc9d09fef784 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
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
- After a crafted NTFS volume is mounted, fs/ntfs registers ntfs_export_ops, so nfsd/ksmbd VFS writes and creates reach ntfs_cluster_alloc() and index the poisoned MFT-zone LCN into lcn_empty_bits_per_page without local shell access.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker fully controls the unsigned 64-bit MFT/MFTMirr LCNs in the boot sector; a high-bit value becomes a negative s64, bypasses the signed upper-bound check, and later allocator walks use that value as bmp_pos with no race or rare config.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- Triggering the allocator needs only write access to a mounted NTFS export (guest/anonymous SMB or a permissive NFS export) or an unprivileged write on an already-mounted volume, not init-namespace root or CAP_SYS_ADMIN at trigger time.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- After the crafted volume is mounted and exported, ordinary remote or local write/create operations invoke ntfs_cluster_alloc() with the poisoned mft_zone_pos; no extra victim mount dialog or USB insertion is required during the attack.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Out-of-bounds access to vol->lcn_empty_bits_per_page corrupts kernel heap within the host OS security domain and does not cross a VM, container, or IOMMU boundary to another authority.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- ntfs_cluster_alloc() reads lcn_empty_bits_per_page[index] where index is derived from the attacker-chosen negative LCN (truncating to a controllable pgoff_t on 32-bit), an unbounded kernel heap out-of-bounds read that can disclose adjacent objects.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The same attacker-influenced index is passed to ntfs_set_lcn_empty_bits(), which increments or decrements lcn_empty_bits_per_page[index], a kernel heap out-of-bounds write exploitable for arbitrary write and control-flow hijacking.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The out-of-bounds lcn_empty_bits_per_page index causes a kernel oops or KASAN slab-out-of-bounds fault in ntfs_cluster_alloc()/ntfs_set_lcn_empty_bits(), crashing or hanging the host even when not fully exploited.