CVE-2026-72354 — ntfs: avoid stale runlist element dereference in MFT writeback

Affected: Linux

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ntfs: avoid stale runlist element dereference in MFT writeback

ntfs_write_mft_block() maps each $MFT record through the $MFT data runlist. For sub-folio clusters it looks up a struct runlist_element under ni->runlist.lock, drops the lock, and later uses rl->length and rl->vcn when choosing folio_sz.

That pointer is only borrowed from ni->runlist.rl. Concurrent $MFT allocation extension can merge a replacement runlist under the same lock, and ntfs_rl_realloc() can free the old backing array. If that happens between the lookup and the later folio_sz decision, writeback can dereference freed runlist storage.

The buggy scenario involves two paths, with each column showing the order within that path:

MFT writeback path: $MFT allocation extension: 1. Look up rl under 1. Extend the $MFT data allocation. ni->runlist.lock. 2. Publish a replacement runlist. 2. Drop ni->runlist.lock. 3. Free the old runlist array. 3. Read rl->length and rl->vcn to choose folio_sz.

Compute the remaining run length while ni->runlist.lock is still held, and use that scalar after unlock. This preserves the existing folio sizing decision without carrying a borrowed runlist_element across the lock boundary.

Validation reproduced this kernel report: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ntfs_mft_writepages+0x1c8d/0x1fb0

Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x66/0xa0 print_report+0xce…

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CVE-2026-72354 — ntfs: avoid stale runlist element dereference in MFT writeback