VulnerabilityPublished 15 Aug 2026Updated 12 Nov 2026

CVE-2026-72205: Linux kernel · ntfs: free volume-wide resources on fill_super failure ntfs_fill_super()'s err_out_now

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

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Not known to be exploited.

Data as of 12 Nov 2026, 20:18 UTC

Severity

Low

Rated by Threat Radar · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 15 Aug 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 12 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-aws-6.14`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14?arch=source&distro=noble`Other threats	Affected 6.14.0-1007.7~24.04.1 – 6.14.0-1018.18~24.04.1 11 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-aws-6.17`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17?arch=source&distro=noble`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1005.5~24.04.2 – 6.17.0-1020.20~24.04.1 10 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azure-6.11`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11?arch=source&distro=noble`Other threats	Affected 6.11.0-1008.8~24.04.1 – 6.11.0-1018.18~24.04.1 7 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azure-6.14`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14?arch=source&distro=noble`Other threats	Affected 6.14.0-1010.10~24.04.1 – 6.14.0-1017.17~24.04.1 5 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azure-6.17`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17?arch=source&distro=noble`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1008.8~24.04.1 – 6.17.0-1022.22 10 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.14`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.14?arch=source&distro=noble`Other threats	Affected 6.14.0-1012.12~24.04.1 – 6.14.0-1017.17~24.04.1 5 affected builds	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix is available that ensures all volume-wide resources are freed on every mount failure path in ntfs_fill_super(). Users should apply the updated Linux kernel versions that include this fix. No additional mitigation steps are required as the issue is addressed by the patch.

Description

CVE-2026-72205 is a vulnerability in the Linux kernel's NTFS filesystem driver where certain volume-wide resources are not freed properly on mount failure in the ntfs_fill_super() function. This leads to a silent memory leak on every failed mount attempt, as several allocations owned by the volume structure remain unreleased. The issue does not trigger warnings or data corruption checks and requires unloading the module to recover leaked resources.

Impact

This vulnerability causes a memory leak in the Linux kernel NTFS driver on every failed mount attempt. While it does not cause immediate data corruption or system crashes, the accumulation of unreleased resources can degrade system stability over time if mounts repeatedly fail. No active exploitation or data compromise is reported.

Summary

The vulnerability in the Linux kernel's NTFS driver arises from incomplete cleanup on failure paths in ntfs_fill_super(). Specifically, the err_out_now error path frees only the volume structure but leaves behind allocations such as vol->nls_map, vol->volume_label, and vol->lcn_empty_bits_per_page. These resources accumulate with each failed mount attempt because the failure paths do not call ntfs_volume_free() or reach the inline cleanup block that frees these resources. The leak is silent since the inodes remain hashed but evict_inodes() is skipped when sb->s_root is unset, preventing warnings. The fix involves moving the per-volume resource frees to the err_out_now label and adjusting kvfree() calls to ensure cleanup occurs exactly once on every failure path.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 12 Nov 2026, 20:18 UTC

Technical details

References

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