CVE-2026-72187

Technical Description

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

ntfs: avoid self-deadlock during inode eviction

An attribute-list update performed while allocating clusters can drop the

last reference to the temporary attribute inode. Evicting that inode

drops its reference to the base inode and can invoke ntfs_drop_big_inode()

for the base inode from within the base inode's own writeback path.

If the base inode is unlinked, ntfs_drop_big_inode() calls

truncate_setsize(), which waits for the inode's folio writeback to

complete. The same writeback worker is responsible for completing that

writeback, so it waits for itself indefinitely.

Prevent this self-deadlock by grabbing a reference to the base inode at the

beginning of ntfs_writepages() and releasing it at the end of the function.

This defers eviction until all bios have been submitted, allowing the wait

for folio writeback to complete safely.

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