CVE-2026-72203
ntfs: skip extent mft records in writeback to prevent deadlock
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 7.5 High
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 30, 2026
- Reserved
- Aug 9, 2026
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ntfs: skip extent mft records in writeback to prevent deadlock
This patch fixes the ABBA deadlock between extent_lock and extent mrec_lock triggered by xfstests generic/113, that occurs since the commit 6994acf33bae ("ntfs: use base mft_no when looking up base inode for extent record").
Path A (inode writeback): VFS writeback -> ntfs_write_inode() -> __ntfs_write_inode() -> mutex_lock(&ni->extent_lock) -> mutex_lock(&tni->mrec_lock)
Path B (MFT folio writeback): VFS writeback of $MFT dirty folios -> ntfs_mft_writepages() -> ntfs_write_mft_block() -> ntfs_may_write_mft_record() -> holds one extent mrec_lock from a previous iteration -> tries to acquire another base inode extent_lock
By removing all extent_lock and extent mrec_lock acquisition from the MFT folio writeback path, the ABBA lock ordering is eliminated:
Path A: __ntfs_write_inode(): extent_lock -> mrec_lock Path B (removed): ntfs_write_mft_block(): mrec_lock -> extent_lock
Path B is always redundant for extent records because:
1. mark_mft_record_dirty(ext_ni) does NOT dirty the MFT folio. It only sets NInoDirty(ext_ni) and marks the base VFS inode dirty via __mark_inode_dirty(I_DIRTY_DATASYNC), which triggers Path A. Therefore, normal extent modifications never create a situation where the MFT folio is dirty and Path B is not scheduled.
2. The MFT folio only gets dirtied via ntfs_mft_mark_dirty() inside ntfs_mft_record_alloc(). But all identified callers in attrib.c (ntfs_attr_add, ntfs_attr_record_move_away, ntfs_attr_make_non_resident, ntfs_attr_record_resize) follow through with mark_mft_record_dirty(), which triggers Path A to write the complete record.
3. ntfs_evict_big_inode() calls ntfs_commit_inode() before freeing extent inodes, ensuring all dirty extents are flushed via Path A before the base inode leaves the icache.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 7.5 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H | Linux |
Weaknesses
The record names no weakness.
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
LinuxLinux |
|
LinuxLinux |
|
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b06b4fc2138ded8ee0b3dc602991ff6dbb10dd0a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6626fb859f4c4772f2f59751d23937716e03f98f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ffa8f3d30236e0ab897c30bdb01224ff1fe1c89
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f831ab09d521898bf1dd99bf5adfd630ea1428e3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/76bc14c7097ff678b2b5dbfd4fa33b46897d87ce
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