CVE-2026-72187 ntfs: avoid self-deadlock during inode eviction
A self-deadlock in the Linux kernel NTFS driver during inode eviction can cause a local denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-72187?
CVE-2026-72187 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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:
ntfs: avoid self-deadlock during inode eviction
An attribute-list update performed while allocating clusters can drop the last reference to the temporary attribute inode. Evicting that inode drops its reference to the base inode and can invoke ntfs_drop_big_inode() for the base inode from within the base inode's own writeback path.
If the base inode is unlinked, ntfs_drop_big_inode() calls truncate_setsize(), which waits for the inode's folio writeback to complete. The same writeback worker is responsible for completing that writeback, so it waits for itself indefinitely.
Prevent this self-deadlock by grabbing a reference to the base inode at the beginning of ntfs_writepages() and releasing it at the end of the function. This defers eviction until all bios have been submitted, allowing the wait for folio writeback to complete safely.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72187?
How do I fix CVE-2026-72187?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-72187 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72187 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72187, GHSA-f35h-7767-j6v8, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72187.