MediumCVE-2026-99171

    Linux Kernel: Use-After-Free (CVE-2026-99171)

    Published Last modified Sources: Debian, BSI, Msrc Update Guide, CVE.org

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    What is affected, what to do

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs3: free the sbi after a grace period If the "nocase" mount option ntfs3 uses custom hash and dentry compare functions. Both access ntfs3 superblock private information in rcu pathwalk. ntfs_put_super() and ntfs3_kill_sb() drop the info without any rcu delay.

    Update Linux Kernel to version 6.6.161, Linux Kernel to version 6.12.115, Linux Kernel to version 6.18.59.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.2..6.6.161
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.115
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.18.59
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.19..7.2.13
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 6.6.161
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.115
    • Linux Kernel 6.18.59
    • Linux Kernel 7.2.13
    • Linux Kernel 7.3

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

    Metrics

    4.7

    Priority

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

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

    4.7

    CVSS v3

    Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Debian, BSI, Msrc Update Guide, CVE.org

    0.2 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 6.9

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Medium
    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
    53.89 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
    4.7 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
    4.7
    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
    0.2 %
    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
    6.9
    Low — this CVE sits in the lower 10% of all CVEs scored today.
    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
    Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
    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: free the sbi after a grace period If the "nocase" mount option ntfs3 uses custom hash and dentry compare functions. Both access ntfs3 superblock private information in rcu pathwalk. ntfs_put_super() and ntfs3_kill_sb() drop the info without any rcu delay. A lookup that's still inside the filesystem when the last reference to the mount is dropped causes a UAF. With a pathwalk held up in ntfs_d_hash() while the last reference to the mount goes away: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ntfs_nls_to_utf16+0x752/0x940 Read of size 8 at addr ff1100010453c850 by task walker/99 Call Trace: <TASK> ntfs_nls_to_utf16+0x752/0x940 ntfs_d_hash+0x22b/0x500 link_path_walk+0x11ad/0x1d30 path_lookupat+0x63/0xb00 filename_lookup+0x1f1/0x5b0 vfs_statx+0xd7/0x3b0 [...] Allocated by task 95: __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x249/0x560 ntfs_init_fs_context+0x2db/0x5a0 alloc_fs_context+0x52e/0xc70 [...] Freed by task 98: kfree+0x1db/0x5b0 deactivate_locked_super+0x9c/0xf0 cleanup_mnt+0x9f/0x130 task_work_run+0x131/0x250 The bug is currently masked by the grace period in namespace_unlock() for umount(2). Keep the necessary information until the filesystem private info is freed and free it with an rcu delay. ntfs3_free_sbi() now runs from an rcu callback and drops the upcase table via ntfs_put_shared(). So switch s_shared_lock over to spin_lock_bh(). Otherwise the callback can deadlock against a task holding the lock on the same cpu.

    Source: Debian Security Advisories, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF, Microsoft Security Update Guide, cvelistv5, NVD (NIST)

    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 – < 6.12.115
    • 6.19 – < 7.2.13
    • 6.13 – < 6.18.59
    • —
    • 6.2 – < 6.6.161
    • 6.12.115
    • 7.2.13
    • 6.18.59
    • 7.3
    • 6.6.161

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianlinuxtrixie

    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 3 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/2026/99xxx/CVE-2026-99171.json">CVE-2026-99171</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36e6753daf9bb64563dcb5a3bb22f7699d973fa2
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c39150784a801dbbfaf4fbfa284cb610552a5039

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

    2. ReceivedLinux

      Description added or changed

      Show 5 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Descriptionadded
      —
      In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs3: free the sbi after a grace period If the "nocase" mount option ntfs3 uses custom hash and dentry compare functions. Both access ntfs3 superblock private information in rcu pathwalk. ntfs_put_super() and ntfs3_kill_sb() drop the info without any rcu delay. A lookup that's still inside the filesystem when the last reference to the mount is dropped causes a UAF. With a pathwalk held up in ntfs_d_hash() while the last reference to the mount goes away: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ntfs_nls_to_utf16+0x752/0x940 Read of size 8 at addr ff1100010453c850 by task walker/99 Call Trace: <TASK> ntfs_nls_to_utf16+0x752/0x940 ntfs_d_hash+0x22b/0x500 link_path_walk+0x11ad/0x1d30 path_lookupat+0x63/0xb00 filename_lookup+0x1f1/0x5b0 vfs_statx+0xd7/0x3b0 [...] Allocated by task 95: __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x249/0x560 ntfs_init_fs_context+0x2db/0x5a0 alloc_fs_context+0x52e/0xc70 [...] Freed by task 98: kfree+0x1db/0x5b0 deactivate_locked_super+0x9c/0xf0 cleanup_mnt+0x9f/0x130 task_work_run+0x131/0x250 The bug is currently masked by the grace period in namespace_unlock() for umount(2). Keep the necessary information until the filesystem private info is freed and free it with an rcu delay. ntfs3_free_sbi() now runs from an rcu callback and drops the upcase table via ntfs_put_shared(). So switch s_shared_lock over to spin_lock_bh(). Otherwise the callback can deadlock against a task holding the lock on the same cpu.
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/99xxx/CVE-2026-99171.json">CVE-2026-99171</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7abecef26a9be8f9de70659a3092250461a52072
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c01b091b06412d3b1b53d8c2925f6de586c8a2fc
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c8b1a4840467930e01f1a9374d991d7a8a2896c1

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

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