CVE-2026-72186
Kernel NTFS flaw lets local writes corrupt volumes and deadlock I/O.
Is CVE-2026-72186 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-72186 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.47% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-72186?
CVE-2026-72186 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.1. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-72186?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-72186. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-72186 affect?
CVE-2026-72186 affects Linux kernel (in-kernel NTFS driver), Systems mounting NTFS via kernel driver. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-72186?
Apply kernel update with NTFS fix; avoid in-kernel NTFS mounts until patched.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Local writes to exposed NTFS system files (e.g., $Bitmap) can corrupt volumes and deadlock writeback, causing data loss and system hang/DoS.
Immediate action required
- affected>= af0db57d4293cc9fe6ce99fb5592dc2652228c9d and < 8f313e92522ac41d273ea137db13ea8a8df2beed
- affected>= af0db57d4293cc9fe6ce99fb5592dc2652228c9d and < f72df3a4c33b64de3418ec74d1ad4f028e09d161
- affected7.1
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.