High · published September 17, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ntfs: serialize resident iomap reads with mrec_lock
ntfs_read_iomap_begin_resident() walks the MFT record through
ntfs_attr_lookup() -> ntfs_attr_find() without taking ni->mrec_lock,
while ntfs_attr_record_resize(), ntfs_make_room_for_attr() and
ntfs_resident_attr_record_add() memmove() the same base_ni->mrec buffer
under that lock. map_mft_record() only takes a reference and does not
serialize, so the reader can observe torn attribute length and offset
fields while a writer is relocating the records.
KCSAN reports the race between the mmap read fault path and both link()
and unlink():
BUG: KCSAN: data-race in ntfs_attr_find / ntfs_attr_record_resize
write to 0xffff888100af1018 of 4 bytes by task 96 on cpu 1:
ntfs_attr_record_resize+0xd2/0x130
ntfs_attr_record_rm+0xad/0x530
ntfs_delete+0x224/0x640
ntfs_unlink+0x14d/0x280
vfs_unlink+0x157/0x520
read to 0xffff888100af1018 of 4 bytes by task 95 on cpu 0:
ntfs_attr_find+0x104/0x5b0
ntfs_attr_lookup+0x39c/0x10c0
ntfs_read_iomap_begin_resident+0xc6/0x230
ntfs_read_iomap_begin+0x5d/0xa0
iomap_iter+0x2e2/0x6e0
iomap_read_folio+0x147/0x2a0
ntfs_read_folio+0x108/0x170
filemap_read_folio+0x35/0x100
filemap_fault+0x993/0x1000
value changed: 0x00000250 -> 0x000001f0
The address is mrec + 0x18, i.e. mft_record.bytes_in_use, and the change
is the 96 bytes of one $FILE_NAME attribute being removed.
Keep base_ni->mrec_lock from the resident read iomap lookup through
iomap_end(). This protects both the attribute walk and the subsequent copy
from iomap->inline_data, which points into the MFT record. The non-resident
path is left alone: ntfs_lookup() already holds the directory inode's
mrec_lock when it reads an index folio through read_mapping_folio(), and
taking the lock in the shared wrapper deadlocks there with recursive locking
on mrec_lock. The comment above the read_mapping_folio() call in
fs/ntfs/dir.c notes the same hazard.
The seek path uses the same lookup helper but does not dereference
iomap->inline_data. Release the lock before returning from that path,
whereas the regular read path records base_ni in iomap->private and releases
the lock from its iomap_end() callback.
Tested with a reproducer that faults in a 16-byte resident file while
another thread runs link()/unlink() on it. Before: 40 KCSAN reports in
about one second. After: no reports in 180 seconds over 206,090 read
iterations and 423,540 link/unlink cycles. A PROVE_LOCKING build shows no
lockdep splat with the same reproducer running for 60 seconds.