CriticalCVE-2026-72192

    Linux Kernel: Out-of-Bounds Write (CVE-2026-72192)

    Published Last modified Sources: Ubuntu, CVE.org, BSI

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    What is affected, what to do

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs3: bound to_move in indx_insert_into_root before hdr_insert_head indx_insert_into_root() promotes a full resident $INDEX_ROOT into $INDEX_ALLOCATION and copies all non-last resident root entries into a newly allocated INDEX_BUFFER via hdr_insert_head(). The source byte count 'to_move' is summed from the on-disk resident entry sizes and is independent of the destination buffer size, which comes from root->index_block_size (via indx->index_bits).

    Update Linux Kernel to version 5.15.212, Linux Kernel to version 6.1.178, Linux Kernel to version 6.6.145.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.15..5.15.212
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.16..6.1.178
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.2..6.6.145
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.97
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.18.40
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.19..7.1.5
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 5.15.212
    • Linux Kernel 6.1.178
    • Linux Kernel 6.6.145
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.97
    • Linux Kernel 6.18.40
    • Linux Kernel 7.1.5
    • Linux Kernel 7.2

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    9.8

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

    9.8

    CVSS v3

    Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Ubuntu, CVE.org, BSI

    0.7 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 54.6

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    95.56 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    9.8 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    9.8
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    0.7 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    54.6
    High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: none known · automatable · Technical impact: total
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 16 October 2026

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs3: bound to_move in indx_insert_into_root before hdr_insert_head indx_insert_into_root() promotes a full resident $INDEX_ROOT into $INDEX_ALLOCATION and copies all non-last resident root entries into a newly allocated INDEX_BUFFER via hdr_insert_head(). The source byte count 'to_move' is summed from the on-disk resident entry sizes and is independent of the destination buffer size, which comes from root->index_block_size (via indx->index_bits). A crafted NTFS image that keeps a valid, full resident root but shrinks root->index_block_size down to 512 after the root has been populated makes hdr_insert_head() memcpy attacker-controlled resident entry bytes past the end of the kmalloc(1u << indx->index_bits) allocation returned by indx_new(). For a 512-byte destination and a resident root whose non-last entries total 560 bytes, the memcpy overruns by 120 bytes and a following memmove extends the highest written offset to 136 bytes past the allocation. The overflow bytes are a direct copy of on-disk entries (via kmemdup), so they are fully attacker-controlled. The write is reachable from unprivileged open(O_CREAT) on a mounted crafted NTFS image: a single sufficiently long create in a directory whose resident root is already full forces root promotion and triggers the copy. This is a controlled out-of-bounds write of 120-136 bytes past a kmalloc(index_block_size) allocation, with attacker-controlled content. It is a bounded adjacent-heap corruption primitive; it is not an arbitrary-address write. Successful exploitation into a named victim object depends on the surrounding slab layout. Reject the copy at the sink. The destination's INDEX_HDR already reports hdr_total (the payload capacity of the new buffer) and hdr_used (the bytes already consumed by the terminal END entry installed by indx_new()); require that to_move fits in the remaining payload before calling hdr_insert_head(). On mismatch, fail with -EINVAL and mark the filesystem as having a detected on-disk inconsistency, which is the same behaviour as the surrounding validation in this function.

    Source: Ubuntu Security Notices, NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    LinuxLinux
    • 6.7 – < 6.12.97
    • 6.19 – < 7.1.5
    • 6.2 – < 6.6.145
    • 5.15 – < 5.15.212
    • —
    • 6.13 – < 6.18.40
    • 5.16 – < 6.1.178
    • 6.12.97
    • 7.1.5
    • 6.6.145
    • 5.15.212
    • 7.2
    • 6.18.40
    • 6.1.178

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxubuntulinuxnoble
    Linuxubuntulinuxresolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-awsnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-awsresolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-aws-7.0noble
    Linuxubuntulinux-aws-fipsnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-azurenoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-azureresolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-7.0noble
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fdenoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fderesolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fde-7.0noble
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fipsnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-fipsnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcpnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcp-fipsnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-gkenoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-gkeopnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-hwe-7.0noble
    Linuxubuntulinux-ibmnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-ibmresolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-lowlatencynoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-nvidiajammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-nvidia-tegrajammy

    References & sources

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Record modifiedLinux

      Show 14 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0af83b8155cc848e9f5d2c36e20a70d024214649
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/194b00c99ba971fa7cf6acd747a36032c6de54eb
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53c5f3b2da3774b41534728aba295c098c9efa19
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b6926ac9c970ae0b2c2fe6289b16e9aa10b6a67
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aaa1f956c0fc41089a4a534da7df91552a08a47c
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cb3161deebcaf8d36d3115abf452c633f2180fc1
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d240f5f9d036b8180224954d9873f172b6be4dd8
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0af83b8155cc848e9f5d2c36e20a70d024214649
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/194b00c99ba971fa7cf6acd747a36032c6de54eb
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53c5f3b2da3774b41534728aba295c098c9efa19
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b6926ac9c970ae0b2c2fe6289b16e9aa10b6a67
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aaa1f956c0fc41089a4a534da7df91552a08a47c
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cb3161deebcaf8d36d3115abf452c633f2180fc1
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d240f5f9d036b8180224954d9873f172b6be4dd8
      —

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    2. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: yes

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      SSVC assessmentadded
      —
      {"id":"CVE-2026-72192","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"yes"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-10-16T18:43:32.724211Z"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    3. Record modifiedLinux

      CVSS V3.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

      Show 2 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
      Affected versions (publisher)changed
      Linux, Linux
      Linux, Linux

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    4. ReceivedLinux

      Description added or changed

      Show 9 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Linux, Linux
      Descriptionadded
      —
      In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs3: bound to_move in indx_insert_into_root before hdr_insert_head indx_insert_into_root() promotes a full resident $INDEX_ROOT into $INDEX_ALLOCATION and copies all non-last resident root entries into a newly allocated INDEX_BUFFER via hdr_insert_head(). The source byte count 'to_move' is summed from the on-disk resident entry sizes and is independent of the destination buffer size, which comes from root->index_block_size (via indx->index_bits). A crafted NTFS image that keeps a valid, full resident root but shrinks root->index_block_size down to 512 after the root has been populated makes hdr_insert_head() memcpy attacker-controlled resident entry bytes past the end of the kmalloc(1u << indx->index_bits) allocation returned by indx_new(). For a 512-byte destination and a resident root whose non-last entries total 560 bytes, the memcpy overruns by 120 bytes and a following memmove extends the highest written offset to 136 bytes past the allocation. The overflow bytes are a direct copy of on-disk entries (via kmemdup), so they are fully attacker-controlled. The write is reachable from unprivileged open(O_CREAT) on a mounted crafted NTFS image: a single sufficiently long create in a directory whose resident root is already full forces root promotion and triggers the copy. This is a controlled out-of-bounds write of 120-136 bytes past a kmalloc(index_block_size) allocation, with attacker-controlled content. It is a bounded adjacent-heap corruption primitive; it is not an arbitrary-address write. Successful exploitation into a named victim object depends on the surrounding slab layout. Reject the copy at the sink. The destination's INDEX_HDR already reports hdr_total (the payload capacity of the new buffer) and hdr_used (the bytes already consumed by the terminal END entry installed by indx_new()); require that to_move fits in the remaining payload before calling hdr_insert_head(). On mismatch, fail with -EINVAL and mark the filesystem as having a detected on-disk inconsistency, which is the same behaviour as the surrounding validation in this function.
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0af83b8155cc848e9f5d2c36e20a70d024214649
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/194b00c99ba971fa7cf6acd747a36032c6de54eb
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53c5f3b2da3774b41534728aba295c098c9efa19
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b6926ac9c970ae0b2c2fe6289b16e9aa10b6a67
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aaa1f956c0fc41089a4a534da7df91552a08a47c
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cb3161deebcaf8d36d3115abf452c633f2180fc1
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d240f5f9d036b8180224954d9873f172b6be4dd8

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

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