---
id: CVE-2026-80674
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  ntfs: validate resident attribute lists and harden the validator

  A base inode's $ATTRIBUTE_LIST is sanity-checked by load_attribute_list()
  only on the non-resident pat…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  ntfs: validate resident attribute lists and harden the validator

  A base inode's $ATTRIBUTE_LIST is sanity-checked by load_attribute_list()
  only on the non-resident pat…
severity: critical
cvss: 9.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
published: '2026-08-28'
updated: '2026-08-29'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-80674'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/55e97648f7753c6097cb682d24d1abcfe878e812'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7d19e1ffee084c4f7d321a360c14ba43404f7cc8'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00379
epssPercentile: 0.31833
ingestedAt: '2026-08-30T04:47:10.206Z'
---

## Overview

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

ntfs: validate resident attribute lists and harden the validator

A base inode's $ATTRIBUTE_LIST is sanity-checked by load_attribute_list()
only on the non-resident path; ntfs_read_locked_inode() copies a *resident*
attribute list into ni->attr_list with a plain memcpy() and no validation
at all. Every subsequent walk of ni->attr_list --
ntfs_external_attr_find(), ntfs_inode_attach_all_extents() and
ntfs_attrlist_need() -- then trusts the entries are well-formed and reads
attr_list_entry fixed-header fields
(lowest_vcn at offset 8, mft_reference at offset 16, and the name) with
bounds that assume validation already happened. A crafted resident
attribute list therefore reaches those walks unvalidated and can drive
out-of-bounds reads of the attribute-list buffer.

load_attribute_list() itself reads ale->name_offset (offset 7),
ale->mft_reference (offset 16) and the name length under only an
"al < al_start + size" bound, so its own validation loop can over-read the
fixed header of a truncated trailing entry by a few bytes.

Factor the per-entry validation into ntfs_attr_list_entry_is_valid(),
which requires each entry's fixed header (offsetof(struct
attr_list_entry, name)) to be in range before any field is dereferenced,
that ale->length is a multiple of 8 covering the fixed header plus the
name, and that the entry is in use and carries a live MFT reference.
ntfs_attr_list_is_valid() walks the buffer with it and checks the entries
tile it exactly. Use the list validator in load_attribute_list()
(replacing the open-coded loop, closing its own over-read) and on the
resident path in ntfs_read_locked_inode() (which previously skipped
validation entirely); patches 2/3 reuse the per-entry helper at the other
two attribute-list walks.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.