ntfs: sanitize MFT references returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name()

{
  "id": "d5b82331166924755d09fd91bfb2f94f5a9df8010448f51fd8bd205fc6e6286c",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72188",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "ntfs: sanitize MFT references returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name()",
    "summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: sanitize MFT references returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() returns MFT references read from directory index entries on disk. These values are untrusted, but the function can currently return an error-marked MFT reference to its callers without validating it. Callers later decode lookup failures with MREF_ERR(). A crafted NTFS image can set the MREF error bit while leaving the low bits as an arbitrary value, causing callers to consume a bogus pseudo-errno instead of treating the lookup result as corrupted on-disk metadata. Fix this at the source by normalizing every error-marked MFT reference returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() to ERR_MREF(-EIO). Apply this to all four directory lookup return paths so every caller gets a validated result without needing additional checks or an API change. This keeps the sanitization in the common lookup helper, which is cleaner than duplicating validation in each caller.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-72188",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "Kernel",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "7.1.5",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "critical",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2026-72188",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2026-72188"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
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                  "introduced": "1e9ea7e04472d4e5e12e58c881eaacfb3e49b669"
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                {
                  "fixed": "83f396d881c4fd312c7fd5fff2c157fc21104464"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "d97a36bae86a9a4021562ded2987f904e6bcb1d7"
                }
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            }
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-72188.json"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "7.1.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "7.1.5"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "Kernel",
            "ecosystem": "Linux"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-72188.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:28.961945779Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83f396d881c4fd312c7fd5fff2c157fc21104464",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d97a36bae86a9a4021562ded2987f904e6bcb1d7",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/72xxx/CVE-2026-72188.json",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72188",
        "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cna_assigner": "Linux",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/72xxx/CVE-2026-72188.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-72188",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 495868,
  "published_at": "2026-08-15T05:53:49.593+00:00"
}