VulnerabilityPublished 25 Sep 2026Updated 19 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-98136: Linux kernel · ntfs: bound $AttrDef table walk to the loaded table size

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited : upgrade to c8504fc1245f5322af5fa5c325ab05f9cf792b87 or 3e2ae47b8ebc632c27e7843a4632d9a7c060885e soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

Severity

High

Rated High by Threat Radar's AI analysis · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 1% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in c8504fc1245f5322af5fa5c325ab05f9cf792b87, 3e2ae47b8ebc632c27e7843a4632d9a7c060885e

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: 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 26 Oct 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.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, 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

Upgrade Linux kernel to c8504fc1245f5322af5fa5c325ab05f9cf792b87 or 3e2ae47b8ebc632c27e7843a4632d9a7c060885e.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 1e9ea7e04472d4e5e12e58c881eaacfb3e49b669, < c8504fc1245f5322af5fa5c325ab05f9cf792b87	Fixed in c8504fc1245f5322af5fa5c325ab05f9cf792b87
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 1e9ea7e04472d4e5e12e58c881eaacfb3e49b669, < 3e2ae47b8ebc632c27e7843a4632d9a7c060885e	Fixed in 3e2ae47b8ebc632c27e7843a4632d9a7c060885e
LinuxLinux	Affected =7.1	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

A fix is available and has been applied in the Linux kernel commits c8504fc1245f5322af5fa5c325ab05f9cf792b87 and 3e2ae47b8ebc632c27e7843a4632d9a7c060885e. Users should update to a kernel version including these commits or later. The fix ensures that volumes with insufficient $AttrDef data are rejected at mount time, preventing the out-of-bounds read.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's NTFS implementation allows out-of-bounds reads due to improper bounds checking when walking the in-memory $AttrDef table. This occurs when the $AttrDef data size is smaller than the size of one attribute definition entry, leading to potential memory safety violations. The issue has been fixed by ensuring the entire entry lies within the allocated size and rejecting insufficient $AttrDef data at mount time.

Impact

This vulnerability can cause out-of-bounds memory reads in kernel space, potentially leading to kernel crashes or memory corruption. It is a memory safety issue that could be exploited to destabilize the system or escalate privileges, although no known exploits are reported in the wild.

Summary

The Linux kernel's ntfs_attr_find_in_attrdef() function iterates over the in-memory $AttrDef table but only bounds the start of each entry, not the entire entry size. Since struct attr_def is 160 bytes but the loop guard only checks the offset of the start of each entry, a volume with $AttrDef data smaller than one entry (e.g., 120 bytes) causes out-of-bounds reads beyond the allocated memory. This can trigger kernel slab-out-of-bounds errors detected by KASAN. The fix involves modifying the loop condition to require the whole entry to fit within the allocated attrdef_size and rejecting $AttrDef data too small to hold one entry during mount.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Oct 2026, 12:40 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats