GHSA-pmpx-w3f2-x2vpMediumCVSS 5.5

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs3: fix circular locking...

Published
May 6, 2026
Last Modified
October 21, 2026

🔗 CVE IDs covered (1)

📋 Description

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

ntfs3: fix circular locking dependency in run_unpack_ex

Syzbot reported a circular locking dependency between wnd->rw_lock (sbi->used.bitmap) and ni->file.run_lock.

The deadlock scenario:

  1. ntfs_extend_mft() takes ni->file.run_lock then wnd->rw_lock.
  2. run_unpack_ex() takes wnd->rw_lock then tries to acquire ni->file.run_lock inside ntfs_refresh_zone().

This creates an AB-BA deadlock.

Fix this by using down_read_trylock() instead of down_read() when acquiring run_lock in run_unpack_ex(). If the lock is contended, skip ntfs_refresh_zone() - the MFT zone will be refreshed on the next MFT operation. This breaks the circular dependency since we never block waiting for run_lock while holding wnd->rw_lock.

🔗 References (7)