CVE-2025-71265

MEDIUM

fs: ntfs3: fix infinite loop in attr_load_runs_range on inconsistent metadata

Title source: cna
STIX 2.1

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: ntfs3: fix infinite loop in attr_load_runs_range on inconsistent metadata We found an infinite loop bug in the ntfs3 file system that can lead to a Denial-of-Service (DoS) condition. A malformed NTFS image can cause an infinite loop when an attribute header indicates an empty run list, while directory entries reference it as containing actual data. In NTFS, setting evcn=-1 with svcn=0 is a valid way to represent an empty run list, and run_unpack() correctly handles this by checking if evcn + 1 equals svcn and returning early without parsing any run data. However, this creates a problem when there is metadata inconsistency, where the attribute header claims to be empty (evcn=-1) but the caller expects to read actual data. When run_unpack() immediately returns success upon seeing this condition, it leaves the runs_tree uninitialized with run->runs as a NULL. The calling function attr_load_runs_range() assumes that a successful return means that the runs were loaded and sets clen to 0, expecting the next run_lookup_entry() call to succeed. Because runs_tree remains uninitialized, run_lookup_entry() continues to fail, and the loop increments vcn by zero (vcn += 0), leading to an infinite loop. This patch adds a retry counter to detect when run_lookup_entry() fails consecutively after attr_load_runs_vcn(). If the run is still not found on the second attempt, it indicates corrupted metadata and returns -EINVAL, preventing the Denial-of-Service (DoS) vulnerability.

Scores

CVSS v3 5.5
EPSS 0.0002
EPSS Percentile 4.8%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-835
Status published
Products (31)
linux/Kernel 5.15.0 - 5.15.202linux
linux/Kernel 5.16.0 - 6.1.165linux
linux/Kernel 6.13.0 - 6.18.16linux
linux/Kernel 6.19.0 - 6.19.6linux
linux/Kernel 6.2.0 - 6.6.128linux
linux/Kernel 6.7.0 - 6.12.75linux
Linux/Linux < 5.15
Linux/Linux 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 - 3c3a6e951b9b53dab2ac460a655313cf04c4a10a
Linux/Linux 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 - 4b90f16e4bb5607fb35e7802eb67874038da4640
Linux/Linux 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 - 6f07a590616ff5f57f7c041d98e463fad9e9f763
... and 21 more
Published Mar 18, 2026
Tracked Since Mar 18, 2026