# CVE-2026-72207: ntfs: not change 0-byte $DATA attribute to non-resident

> A flaw in the Linux kernel NTFS driver causes filesystem corruption when resizing zero-byte attributes, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 18 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72207, GHSA-vqw4-mmgx-m8xp, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72207

## What is CVE-2026-72207?

CVE-2026-72207 is a critical denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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: not change 0-byte $DATA attribute to non-resident

When ntfs_resident_attr_resize() cannot grow a resident attribute in
place, it retries after converting other resident attributes to
non-resident to free space in the MFT recrord.

Do not select zero-length resident $DATA attributes for this conversion.
fsck treats 0-byte non-resident $DATA attribute as corruptions.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72207?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72207?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72207 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72207 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72207 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72207 is a critical denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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-2026-72207 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-2026-72207/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72207/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72207
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72207
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72207

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72207/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.