# CVE-2025-71267: fs: ntfs3: fix infinite loop triggered by zero-sized ATTR_LIST

> A malformed NTFS image causes an infinite loop in the Linux kernel ntfs3 driver, leading to a denial of service during mount operations.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-79992, BELL-CVE-2025-71267, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-71267, GHSA-j72w-3754-92gg, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-71267, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-71267, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-71267, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-71267, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-71267

## What is CVE-2025-71267?

CVE-2025-71267 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Mar 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

fs: ntfs3: fix infinite loop triggered by zero-sized ATTR_LIST

We found an infinite loop bug in the ntfs3 file system that can lead to a
Denial-of-Service (DoS) condition.

A malformed NTFS image can cause an infinite loop when an ATTR_LIST attribute
indicates a zero data size while the driver allocates memory for it.

When ntfs_load_attr_list() processes a resident ATTR_LIST with data_size set
to zero, it still allocates memory because of al_aligned(0). This creates an
inconsistent state where ni->attr_list.size is zero, but ni->attr_list.le is
non-null. This causes ni_enum_attr_ex to incorrectly assume that no attribute
list exists and enumerates only the primary MFT record. When it finds
ATTR_LIST, the code reloads it and restarts the enumeration, repeating
indefinitely. The mount operation never completes, hanging the kernel thread.

This patch adds validation to ensure that data_size is non-zero before memory
allocation. When a zero-sized ATTR_LIST is detected, the function returns
-EINVAL, preventing a DoS vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-71267?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-71267?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-71267 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71267 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-2025-71267 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-71267 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Mar 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71267 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-2025-71267/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71267/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-71267
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-71267
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-71267

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71267/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.