ntfs: skip extent mft records in writeback to prevent deadlock
CVE-2026-72203 · published 15 Aug 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: high, CVSS score 7.5 out of 10.
- No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
- Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- No public exploit in Exploit-DB.
Is your app affected by CVE-2026-72203?
Paste this prompt into Claude Code, Cursor or any AI coding tool: it runs a free Shippable scan of your project and fixes what it finds. Built with Lovable, Bolt or v0? Scan your live app. Or upload your package file.
Who is affected
- Linux Linux: 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to < 6626fb859f4c4772f2f59751d23937716e03f98f, 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to < 7ffa8f3d30236e0ab897c30bdb01224ff1fe1c89, 1e9ea7e04472d4e5e12e58c881eaacfb3e49b669 to < f831ab09d521898bf1dd99bf5adfd630ea1428e3, 1e9ea7e04472d4e5e12e58c881eaacfb3e49b669 to < 76bc14c7097ff678b2b5dbfd4fa33b46897d87ce
- Linux Linux: 2.6.12, 7.1
How to check
- Find out whether you run the affected product and which version, then compare it with the versions above.
How to fix
Copies a prompt for Claude Code, Cursor or Codex that asks it to check whether you run this product.
- Apply the vendor's update or mitigation from the references below. If there is none yet, limit exposure of the affected service until there is.
- If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.
The advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ntfs: skip extent mft records in writeback to prevent deadlock
This patch fixes the ABBA deadlock between extent_lock and extent
mrec_lock triggered by xfstests generic/113, that occurs since the commit
6994acf33bae ("ntfs: use base mft_no when looking up base inode for
extent record").
Path A (inode writeback):
VFS writeback
-> ntfs_write_inode()
-> __ntfs_write_inode()
-> mutex_lock(&ni->extent_lock)
-> mutex_lock(&tni->mrec_lock)
Path B (MFT folio writeback):
VFS writeback of $MFT dirty folios
-> ntfs_mft_writepages()
-> ntfs_write_mft_block()
-> ntfs_may_write_mft_record()
-> holds one extent mrec_lock from a previous iteration
-> tries to acquire another base inode extent_lock
By removing all extent_lock and extent mrec_lock acquisition from the MFT
folio writeback path, the ABBA lock ordering is eliminated:
Path A: __ntfs_write_inode(): extent_lock -> mrec_lock
Path B (removed): ntfs_write_mft_block(): mrec_lock -> extent_lock
Path B is always redundant for extent records because:
1. mark_mft_record_dirty(ext_ni) does NOT dirty the MFT folio.
It only sets NInoDirty(ext_ni) and marks the base VFS inode dirty
via __mark_inode_dirty(I_DIRTY_DATASYNC), which triggers Path A.
Therefore, normal extent modifications never create a situation where
the MFT folio is dirty and Path B is not scheduled.
2. The MFT folio only gets dirtied via ntfs_mft_mark_dirty() inside
ntfs_mft_record_alloc(). But all identified callers in attrib.c
(ntfs_attr_add, ntfs_attr_record_move_away,
ntfs_attr_make_non_resident, ntfs_attr_record_resize) follow through
with mark_mft_record_dirty(), which triggers Path A to write the
complete record.
3. ntfs_evict_big_inode() calls ntfs_commit_inode() before freeing extent
inodes, ensuring all dirty extents are flushed via Path A before the
base inode leaves the icache.
Check your whole app
Dependencies are only half of it. Free and read-only: before you push, run npx shippable-dev scan localhost:3000 in your project folder, no account needed. For your live app, you prove it's yours with a one-line tag first.
References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/6626fb859f4c4772f2f59751d23937716e03f98f
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ffa8f3d30236e0ab897c30bdb01224ff1fe1c89
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/f831ab09d521898bf1dd99bf5adfd630ea1428e3
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/76bc14c7097ff678b2b5dbfd4fa33b46897d87ce
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 25 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON