Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2025-71266

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: ntfs3: check return value of indx_find to avoid infinite loop We found an infinite loop bug in the ntfs3 file system that can lead to a Denial-of-Service (DoS) condition. A malformed dentry in the ntfs3 filesystem can cause the kernel to hang during the lookup operations. By setting the HAS_SUB_NODE flag in an INDEX_ENTRY within a directory's INDEX_ALLOCATION block and manipulating the VCN pointer, an attacker can cause the indx_find() function to repeatedly read the same block, allocating 4 KB of memory each time. The kernel lacks VCN loop detection and depth limits, causing memory exhaustion and an OOM crash. This patch adds a return value check for fnd_push() to prevent a memory exhaustion vulnerability caused by infinite loops. When the index exceeds the size of the fnd->nodes array, fnd_push() returns -EINVAL. The indx_find() function checks this return value and stops processing, preventing further memory allocation.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.001 (1.7th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 2nd percentile — 1.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-71266: held from 0.001 to 0.001.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: 0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 82cae269cfa953032fbb8980a7d554d60fb00b17, 5.15, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 5.15

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-71266?
CVE-2025-71266 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition (Infinite Loop). CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-03-18.
How severe is CVE-2025-71266?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.