CVE-2025-71266

Kernel crash via unchecked ntfs3 index depth

Published Mar 18, 2026 · Updated Mar 18, 2026

Denial of service in Linux Kernel allows local users to crash the kernel by looking up a malformed directory on an ntfs3 volume. indx_find() repeatedly follows a manipulated VCN to the same INDEX_ALLOCATION block and allocates another 4 KB node without enforcing a traversal-depth limit. Exploitation requires access to a crafted NTFS filesystem and a lookup operation; the resulting loop exhausts memory and triggers an OOM crash.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.12%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in Linux Kernel allows local users to crash the kernel by looking up a malformed directory on an ntfs3 volume. indx_find() repeatedly follows a manipulated VCN to the same INDEX_ALLOCATION block and allocates another 4 KB node without enforcing a traversal-depth limit. Exploitation requires access to a crafted NTFS filesystem and a lookup operation; the resulting loop exhausts memory and triggers an OOM crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-71266
Published
Mar 18, 2026
Updated
Mar 18, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
CWE-835, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 18, 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?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.15
  2. Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <0ad7a1be44479503dbe5c699759861ef5b8bd70c
  3. Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <14c3188afbedfd5178bbabb8002487ea14b37b56
  4. Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <1732053c8a6b360e2d5afb1b34fe9779398b072c
  5. Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <398e768d1accd1f5645492ab996005d7aa84a5b0
  6. Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <435d34719db0e130f6f0c621d67ed524cc1a7d10
  7. Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <68e32694be231c1cdb99b7637a657314e88e1a96
  8. Affected versionversion=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <b0ea441f44ce64fa514a415d4a9e6e2b06e7946c

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=5.15; version=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <0ad7a1be44479503dbe5c699759861ef5b8bd70c; version=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <14c3188afbedfd5178bbabb8002487ea14b37b56; version=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <1732053c8a6b360e2d5afb1b34fe9779398b072c; version=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <398e768d1accd1f5645492ab996005d7aa84a5b0; version=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <435d34719db0e130f6f0c621d67ed524cc1a7d10; version=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <68e32694be231c1cdb99b7637a657314e88e1a96; version=82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17 <b0ea441f44ce64fa514a415d4a9e6e2b06e7946c

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-835Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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