# CVE-2026-72189: ntfs: fail attrlist updates when the superblock is inactive

> A self-deadlock in the Linux kernel NTFS driver during inode eviction can cause a system hang, requiring a local attacker to trigger specific filesystem operations.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72189, GHSA-h6g4-x7wq-fhjg, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72189

## What is CVE-2026-72189?

CVE-2026-72189 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: fail attrlist updates when the superblock is inactive

generic_shutdown_super() clears SB_ACTIVE before evicting cached inodes.
If eviction selects the fake inode for a base inode's unnamed
$ATTRIBUTE_LIST attribute, ntfs_evict_big_inode() drops the fake inode's
reference on the base inode while the fake inode is still hashed and marked
I_FREEING.

That iput can synchronously write back the base inode. The writeback path
may update mapping pairs and call ntfs_attrlist_update(), which
unconditionally calls ntfs_attr_iget() for the same $ATTRIBUTE_LIST fake
inode. VFS then finds the I_FREEING inode and waits for eviction to finish,
but the current task is still inside that eviction path, causing a
self-deadlock in find_inode().

Fix this by mirroring the teardown guard used by __ntfs_write_inode():
once SB_ACTIVE has been cleared, do not try to iget the attribute-list
fake inode. Return -EIO so teardown aborts the update instead of waiting on
the inode it is evicting.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72189?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72189?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72189 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72189 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72189 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72189 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72189 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-72189/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72189/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72189
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72189
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72189

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72189/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.