# CVE-2026-72205: ntfs: free volume-wide resources on fill_super failure

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel NTFS driver allows local attackers to exhaust system memory by repeatedly triggering mount failures, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 18 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72205, GHSA-cx24-8ppf-cvpr, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72205

## What is CVE-2026-72205?

CVE-2026-72205 is a memory corruption 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: free volume-wide resources on fill_super failure

ntfs_fill_super()'s err_out_now path frees only the volume struct via
kfree(vol), leaving several vol-owned allocations behind on every mount
failure:

  - vol->nls_map, loaded by ntfs_init_fs_context() via
    load_nls_default() (or replaced by an explicit nls= option in
    ntfs_parse_param()), is never unload_nls()'d.

  - vol->volume_label, allocated by load_system_files() through
    ntfs_ucstonls() once the $Volume name attribute has been parsed, is
    not released by load_system_files()'s own error labels nor by the
    fill_super() inline cleanup that only runs on d_make_root()
    failure.  Any later failure inside load_system_files() leaks it.

  - vol->lcn_empty_bits_per_page was kvfree()'d in
    unl_upcase_iput_tmp_ino_err_out_now without clearing the pointer,
    so it could not be folded into a single common cleanup.

Because the failure paths never call ntfs_volume_free() and never reach
the d_make_root() inline cleanup block (it sits above the label and is
jumped over by the load_system_files() / kvmalloc failure gotos), these
resources accumulate per failed mount attempt with no chance of
recovery short of unloading the module.  This is a silent leak: the
inodes loaded prior to failure remain hashed but generic_shutdown_super()
skips evict_inodes() when sb->s_root is unset, so no CHECK_DATA_CORRUPTION
warning is emitted either.

Move the per-volume frees down to err_out_now and drop the
lcn_empty_bits_per_page kvfree() from the upper label so the cleanup is
performed exactly once on every failure path.  Using unconditional
kvfree() / kfree() / unload_nls() is safe because they all accept NULL
and the upper labels that previously freed nls_map (the d_make_root()
inline cleanup) already clear the pointer.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72205?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72205?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72205 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72205 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72205 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72205 is a memory corruption 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-2026-72205 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-2026-72205/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72205/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72205
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72205
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72205

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72205/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.