Kernel crash via invalid NTFS cluster shift
Published Feb 26, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Shift-out-of-bounds in the Linux ntfs3 boot-sector parser allows attackers to crash the kernel via a crafted NTFS volume. ntfs_init_from_boot passes an unchecked sectors_per_clusters value to true_sectors_per_clst, which uses it as a shift exponent and derives invalid cluster geometry. Execution requires a victim or automount service to mount the attacker-supplied volume; the resulting geometry can also expose or corrupt kernel and on-disk data.
Summary
What happened
Shift-out-of-bounds in the Linux ntfs3 boot-sector parser allows attackers to crash the kernel via a crafted NTFS volume. ntfs_init_from_boot passes an unchecked sectors_per_clusters value to true_sectors_per_clst, which uses it as a shift exponent and derives invalid cluster geometry. Execution requires a victim or automount service to mount the attacker-supplied volume; the resulting geometry can also expose or corrupt kernel and on-disk data.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-49553
- Published
- Feb 26, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-190, T1203
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 26, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=5.15
- Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <4746c49b11b2403f5b5b07c6eac9e60663dcd9a3
- Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <58cf68a1886d14ffdc5c892ce483a82156769e88
- Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <a2b6986316a2d106f6951e76db70fa4b2fde64a9
- Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <a3b774342fa752a5290c0de36375289dfcf4a260
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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