# CVE-2022-49763: ntfs: fix use-after-free in ntfs_attr_find()

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel NTFS driver allows attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially execute code via a crafted filesystem.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 1 May 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49763, GHSA-h4jf-hv6r-g8qq, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49763

## What is CVE-2022-49763?

CVE-2022-49763 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ntfs: fix use-after-free in ntfs_attr_find()

Patch series "ntfs: fix bugs about Attribute", v2.

This patchset fixes three bugs relative to Attribute in record:

Patch 1 adds a sanity check to ensure that, attrs_offset field in first
mft record loading from disk is within bounds.

Patch 2 moves the ATTR_RECORD's bounds checking earlier, to avoid
dereferencing ATTR_RECORD before checking this ATTR_RECORD is within
bounds.

Patch 3 adds an overflow checking to avoid possible forever loop in
ntfs_attr_find().

Without patch 1 and patch 2, the kernel triggersa KASAN use-after-free
detection as reported by Syzkaller.

Although one of patch 1 or patch 2 can fix this, we still need both of
them.  Because patch 1 fixes the root cause, and patch 2 not only fixes
the direct cause, but also fixes the potential out-of-bounds bug.

This patch (of 3):

Syzkaller reported use-after-free read as follows:
==================================================================
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ntfs_attr_find+0xc02/0xce0 fs/ntfs/attrib.c:597
Read of size 2 at addr ffff88807e352009 by task syz-executor153/3607

[...]
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline]
 dump_stack_lvl+0xcd/0x134 lib/dump_stack.c:106
 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:317 [inline]
 print_report.cold+0x2ba/0x719 mm/kasan/report.c:433
 kasan_report+0xb1/0x1e0 mm/kasan/report.c:495
 ntfs_attr_find+0xc02/0xce0 fs/ntfs/attrib.c:597
 ntfs_attr_lookup+0x1056/0x2070 fs/ntfs/attrib.c:1193
 ntfs_read_inode_mount+0x89a/0x2580 fs/ntfs/inode.c:1845
 ntfs_fill_super+0x1799/0x9320 fs/ntfs/super.c:2854
 mount_bdev+0x34d/0x410 fs/super.c:1400
 legacy_get_tree+0x105/0x220 fs/fs_context.c:610
 vfs_get_tree+0x89/0x2f0 fs/super.c:1530
 do_new_mount fs/namespace.c:3040 [inline]
 path_mount+0x1326/0x1e20 fs/namespace.c:3370
 do_mount fs/namespace.c:3383 [inline]
 __do_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3591 [inline]
 __se_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3568 [inline]
 __x64_sys_mount+0x27f/0x300 fs/namespace.c:3568
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x35/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
 [...]
 </TASK>

The buggy address belongs to the physical page:
page:ffffea0001f8d400 refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x7e350
head:ffffea0001f8d400 order:3 compound_mapcount:0 compound_pincount:0
flags: 0xfff00000010200(slab|head|node=0|zone=1|lastcpupid=0x7ff)
raw: 00fff00000010200 0000000000000000 dead000000000122 ffff888011842140
raw: 0000000000000000 0000000000040004 00000001ffffffff 0000000000000000
page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected
Memory state around the buggy address:
 ffff88807e351f00: fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc
 ffff88807e351f80: fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc
>ffff88807e352000: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
                      ^
 ffff88807e352080: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
 ffff88807e352100: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
==================================================================

Kernel will loads $MFT/$DATA's first mft record in
ntfs_read_inode_mount().

Yet the problem is that after loading, kernel doesn't check whether
attrs_offset field is a valid value.

To be more specific, if attrs_offset field is larger than bytes_allocated
field, then it may trigger the out-of-bounds read bug(reported as
use-after-free bug) in ntfs_attr_find(), when kernel tries to access the
corresponding mft record's attribute.

This patch solves it by adding the sanity check between attrs_offset field
and bytes_allocated field, after loading the first mft record.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49763?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49763?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49763 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49763 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-49763 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49763 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49763 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49763/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49763/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49763
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49763
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49763

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49763/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.