---
id: CVE-2026-90048
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  fs/ntfs3: fix slab-out-of-bounds write in ni_create_attr_list()

  ni_create_attr_list() allocates a fixed buffer of al_aligned(record_size)
  (== record_size) bytes and th…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  fs/ntfs3: fix slab-out-of-bounds write in ni_create_attr_list()

  ni_create_attr_list() allocates a fixed buffer of al_aligned(record_size)
  (== record_size) bytes and th…
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'
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 4342306f0f0d5ff4315a204d315c1b51b914fca5 <
    7e9aee7e4d9767cc3e423b3beecb01c7ebb6bbcd
  - >-
    Linux >= 4342306f0f0d5ff4315a204d315c1b51b914fca5 <
    fa2215cf451414b0512cd6f7d37a057893811f4d
  - >-
    Linux >= 4342306f0f0d5ff4315a204d315c1b51b914fca5 <
    d07e281f2a7710502985d6f80b95ddac8f4e81d5
  - >-
    Linux >= 4342306f0f0d5ff4315a204d315c1b51b914fca5 <
    a84f3db72561c4d9281c5ff721ce46b9ffa7f30e
  - >-
    Linux >= 4342306f0f0d5ff4315a204d315c1b51b914fca5 <
    7c4841e2a62794a3bab7c1ff0540580f387e377f
  - Linux 5.15
published: '2026-09-16'
updated: '2026-09-16'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-16T15:18:27.570'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90048'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c4841e2a62794a3bab7c1ff0540580f387e377f'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7e9aee7e4d9767cc3e423b3beecb01c7ebb6bbcd'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a84f3db72561c4d9281c5ff721ce46b9ffa7f30e'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d07e281f2a7710502985d6f80b95ddac8f4e81d5'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fa2215cf451414b0512cd6f7d37a057893811f4d'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-16T10:53:53.928Z'
epss: 0.00509
epssPercentile: 0.42457
---

## Overview

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

fs/ntfs3: fix slab-out-of-bounds write in ni_create_attr_list()

ni_create_attr_list() allocates a fixed buffer of al_aligned(record_size)
(== record_size) bytes and then walks every attribute of the primary MFT
record, writing one ATTR_LIST_ENTRY per attribute and advancing the cursor
by le_size(name_len), with no check against the end of the buffer; the
total size is only computed after the loop.

A minimum-size resident attribute occupies SIZEOF_RESIDENT (0x18 = 24)
bytes on disk, but an unnamed attribute expands to le_size(0) (0x20 = 32)
bytes in the list.  Because the number of attributes in a record is not
bounded (mi_enum_attr() accepts arbitrarily many equal-type, nameless
minimum-size attributes), a crafted record packed with such attributes
produces a list larger than record_size and overflows the heap buffer.

This is reachable from a crafted, loop-mounted NTFS image: opening the file
and adding an attribute (e.g. via setxattr) drives ntfs_set_ea() ->
ni_insert_resident() -> ni_insert_attr() -> ni_ins_attr_ext() ->
ni_create_attr_list().

  BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in ni_create_attr_list+0xc48/0x1058
  Write of size 4 at addr ffff000008984c00 by task setfattr/345
   ni_create_attr_list+0xc48/0x1058
   ni_ins_attr_ext+0x510/0x7c0
   ni_insert_attr+0x3f8/0x70c
   ni_insert_resident+0xc8/0x3b0
   ntfs_set_ea+0x66c/0xd28
   ntfs_setxattr+0x4d8/0x5b0
   __arm64_sys_setxattr+0xa4/0x124
  Allocated by task 345:
   ni_create_attr_list+0x188/0x1058
  The buggy address belongs to the cache kmalloc-1k of size 1024
  (the write lands at object+1024).

Size the buffer from the actual attributes instead of assuming a single
record_size is always enough.

## Remediation

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