CVE-2026-72478: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: add bounds check to run_get_highest_vcn() run_get_highest

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: add bounds check to run_get_highest_vcn() run_get_highest_vcn() parses a packed

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: add bounds check to run_get_highest_vcn() run_get_highest_vcn() parses a packed NTFS mapping-pairs buffer without any length bound, relying solely on a 0x00 terminator to stop. A crafted $LogFile UpdateMappingPairs record whose embedded attribute contains mapping-pairs runs without a terminator causes the function to read past the slab allocation, triggering a KASAN slab-out-of-bounds read on mount. The sibling function run_unpack() received an analogous bounds-check in commit b62567bca474 ("ntfs3: add buffer boundary checks to run_unpack()"), but run_get_highest_vcn() was missed. Take a run_buf_size parameter and reject any run header whose payload would extend past the buffer end, mirroring the pattern used by run_unpack(). The caller in fslog.c passes the remaining attribute bytes after the mapping-pairs offset. KASAN report (on mainline v7.1 merge window HEAD): BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in run_get_highest_vcn+0x3c0/0x410 Read of size 1 at addr ffff88800e2d5400 by task mount/72 Call Trace: run_get_highest_vcn+0x3c0/0x410 do_action.isra.0+0x3ba8/0x7b50 log_replay+0x9ddd/0x102

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

What it means for a small business

Linux is on the computers, phones or browsers your team uses every day. Turn on automatic updates and restart: most of these fixes only take effect after a restart.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.20%, higher than 9% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored November 1, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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