fs: ntfs3: fix infinite loop in attr_load_runs_range on inconsistent metadata

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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: ntfs3: fix infinite loop in attr_load_runs_range on inconsistent metadata We found an infinite loop bug in the ntfs3 file system that can lead to a Denial-of-Service (DoS) condition. A malformed NTFS image can cause an infinite loop when an attribute header indicates an empty run list, while directory entries reference it as containing actual data. In NTFS, setting evcn=-1 with svcn=0 is a valid way to represent an empty run list, and run_unpack() correctly handles this by checking if evcn + 1 equals svcn and returning early without parsing any run data. However, this creates a problem when there is metadata inconsistency, where the attribute header claims to be empty (evcn=-1) but the caller expects to read actual data. When run_unpack() immediately returns success upon seeing this condition, it leaves the runs_tree uninitialized with run->runs as a NULL. The calling function attr_load_runs_range() assumes that a successful return means that the runs were loaded and sets clen to 0, expecting the next run_lookup_entry() call to succeed. Because runs_tree remains uninitialized, run_lookup_entry() continues to fail, and the loop increments vcn by zero (vcn += 0), leading to an infinite loop. This patch adds a retry counter to detect when run_lookup_entry() fails consecutively after attr_load_runs_vcn(). If the run is still not found on the second attempt, it indicates corrupted metadata and returns -EINVAL, preventing the Denial-of-Service (DoS) vulnerability.

Source published

18 Mar 2026 10:05:01 UTC

Source modified

15 Oct 2026 01:11:16 UTC

Observed here

23 Oct 2026 15:48:27 UTC

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