HighCVE-2026-89616

    Linux Kernel: security vulnerability (CVE-2026-89616)

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

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    What is affected, what to do

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: fix info-leak on partial LZNT decompress in ni_read_frame() ni_read_frame() decompresses an LZNT $DATA frame into the vmapped target pages and then trusts decompress_lznt()'s return value: unc_size = decompress_lznt(frame_ondisk, ondisk_size, frame_mem, frame_size); if ((ssize_t)unc_size < 0) err = unc_size; else if (!unc_size || unc_size > frame_size) err = -EINVAL; decompress_lznt() stops as soon as the compressed stream is exhausted (e.g. a zero chunk header) and returns the number of bytes it actually wrote, which may be far less than frame_size. The bytes between unc_size and frame_size are never written.

    Update Linux Kernel to version 5.15.221, Linux Kernel to version 6.1.188, Linux Kernel to version 6.6.157.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.15..5.15.221
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.16..6.1.188
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.2..6.6.157
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.109
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.18.50
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.19..7.2.4
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 5.15.221
    • Linux Kernel 6.1.188
    • Linux Kernel 6.6.157
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.109
    • Linux Kernel 6.18.50
    • Linux Kernel 7.2.4
    • Linux Kernel 7.3

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

    Metrics

    7.5

    Priority

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

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

    7.5

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Ubuntu, Debian LTS, Debian, CVE.org, BSI

    0.4 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 36.0

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    High
    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
    73.47 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
    7.5 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
    7.5
    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
    0.4 %
    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
    36.0
    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

    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: fs/ntfs3: fix info-leak on partial LZNT decompress in ni_read_frame() ni_read_frame() decompresses an LZNT $DATA frame into the vmapped target pages and then trusts decompress_lznt()'s return value: unc_size = decompress_lznt(frame_ondisk, ondisk_size, frame_mem, frame_size); if ((ssize_t)unc_size < 0) err = unc_size; else if (!unc_size || unc_size > frame_size) err = -EINVAL; decompress_lznt() stops as soon as the compressed stream is exhausted (e.g. a zero chunk header) and returns the number of bytes it actually wrote, which may be far less than frame_size. The bytes between unc_size and frame_size are never written. The only memset() that follows zeroes the region beyond i_valid; when the frame lies entirely within the file's valid size that memset() does not run, so the gap retains whatever was in the just-vmapped pages. All pages are then marked uptodate and returned to userspace, disclosing uninitialized (recently-freed) kernel page memory. A crafted compressed file whose stream decompresses to only a few bytes leaks the remainder of every frame on a plain read(2), which is enough to recover kernel pointers and defeat KASLR. Zero the [unc_size, frame_size) tail immediately after a successful LZNT decompress so the remainder reads back as zero.

    Source: Ubuntu Security Notices, Debian LTS Advisories, Debian Security Advisories, 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
    • 5.15 – < 5.15.221
    • —
    • 5.16 – < 6.1.188
    • 6.2 – < 6.6.157
    • 6.13 – < 6.18.50
    • 6.19 – < 7.2.4
    • 6.7 – < 6.12.109
    • 5.15.221
    • 7.3
    • 6.1.188
    • 6.6.157
    • 6.18.50
    • 7.2.4
    • 6.12.109

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianlinuxbookworm
    Linuxdebianlinuxtrixie
    Linuxubuntulinuxjammy
    Linuxubuntulinuxresolute
    Linuxdebianlinux-6.12bookworm
    Linuxubuntulinux-awsjammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-awsresolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-aws-5.15focal
    Linuxubuntulinux-aws-fipsjammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-azurejammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-5.15focal
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fdejammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fde-5.15focal
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fipsjammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-fipsjammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcpjammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcpresolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcp-5.15focal
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcp-fipsjammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-gkejammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-gkeopjammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-hwe-5.15focal
    Linuxubuntulinux-hwe-7.0noble
    Linuxubuntulinux-ibmjammy

    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

      1 individual change: Affected versions (publisher)

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/89xxx/CVE-2026-89616.json">CVE-2026-89616</a>

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

    2. Record modifiedLinux

      Show 4 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/89xxx/CVE-2026-89616.json">CVE-2026-89616</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/77d8efd04745cda23858546afdbd9d07b591758e
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7d60a4c49af4d5cb88aa7cbf998d0408bd415055
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cd40eee4923d104ebec9ac7513b971bc441e431d

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

    3. Record modifiedLinux

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

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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

    4. ReceivedLinux

      Description added or changed

      Show 6 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Descriptionadded
      —
      In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: fix info-leak on partial LZNT decompress in ni_read_frame() ni_read_frame() decompresses an LZNT $DATA frame into the vmapped target pages and then trusts decompress_lznt()'s return value: unc_size = decompress_lznt(frame_ondisk, ondisk_size, frame_mem, frame_size); if ((ssize_t)unc_size < 0) err = unc_size; else if (!unc_size || unc_size > frame_size) err = -EINVAL; decompress_lznt() stops as soon as the compressed stream is exhausted (e.g. a zero chunk header) and returns the number of bytes it actually wrote, which may be far less than frame_size. The bytes between unc_size and frame_size are never written. The only memset() that follows zeroes the region beyond i_valid; when the frame lies entirely within the file's valid size that memset() does not run, so the gap retains whatever was in the just-vmapped pages. All pages are then marked uptodate and returned to userspace, disclosing uninitialized (recently-freed) kernel page memory. A crafted compressed file whose stream decompresses to only a few bytes leaks the remainder of every frame on a plain read(2), which is enough to recover kernel pointers and defeat KASLR. Zero the [unc_size, frame_size) tail immediately after a successful LZNT decompress so the remainder reads back as zero.
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/89xxx/CVE-2026-89616.json">CVE-2026-89616</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0f699ddb290a24b37e1bc9bf1e3c9dbccf564bea
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/35d1ea92c7d946e2ebdbe36cdb2c969c8704bebd
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/376ee45659a4b943df672ad275c63da00655f929
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4a1b39b2e10eb8de86265e80cf2be4396bc1dce4

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

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