CVE-2026-72202

Technical Description

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

ntfs: avoid heap allocation for free-cluster readahead state

get_nr_free_clusters() allocates a temporary file_ra_state before it

publishes the precomputed free cluster count, sets NVolFreeClusterKnown(),

and wakes vol->free_waitq. If that allocation fails, the worker returns

without setting the flag or waking waiters, so callers waiting for the free

count can block indefinitely.

The readahead state is only used synchronously while scanning the bitmap.

Keep it on the stack and pass it by address to the readahead helper. This

eliminates the early allocation failure path instead of adding a special

case that publishes a conservative count and wakes the waitqueue.

Zero-initialize the on-stack state because file_ra_state_init() only sets

ra_pages and prev_pos.

Apply the same treatment to __get_nr_free_mft_records(), which scans the

MFT bitmap with the same short-lived readahead state.

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

References