# CVE-2026-43245: ntfs: ->d_compare() must not block

> A blocking call in the Linux kernel NTFS driver can cause a denial of service by stalling the filesystem operations.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 May 2026
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-85806, BELL-CVE-2026-43245, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43245, GHSA-mq97-h32x-42x9, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-43245, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-43245, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-43245, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-43245, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-43245, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-43245

## What is CVE-2026-43245?

CVE-2026-43245 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

ntfs: ->d_compare() must not block

... so don't use __getname() there.  Switch it (and ntfs_d_hash(), while
we are at it) to kmalloc(PATH_MAX, GFP_NOWAIT).  Yes, ntfs_d_hash()
almost certainly can do with smaller allocations, but let ntfs folks
deal with that - keep the allocation size as-is for now.

Stop abusing names_cachep in ntfs, period - various uses of that thing
in there have nothing to do with pathnames; just use k[mz]alloc() and
be done with that.  For now let's keep sizes as-in, but AFAICS none of
the users actually want PATH_MAX.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43245?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-43245?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-43245 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43245 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-2026-43245 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-43245 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43245 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-2026-43245/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43245/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43245
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43245
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43245

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43245/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.