CVE-2026-63833: ntfs3: reject direct userspace writes to reserved $LX* xattrs

Severity: high (CVSS 7.1 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-07-19 · updated 2026-10-22
Weakness: CWE-862

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs3: reject direct userspace writes to reserved $LX* xattrs NTFS3 uses $LXUID, $LXGID, $LXMOD and $LXDEV as internal WSL permission metadata and reloads them into i_uid, i_gid and i_mode from ntfs_get_wsl_perm(). Because the empty-prefix xattr handler also lets file owners call setxattr() on these names directly, an unprivileged writer on a writable ntfs3 mount can plant root ownership and S_ISUID on their own file and gain euid 0 after inode reload. Reject direct userspace writes to the reserved $LX* names. Internal ntfs3 metadata updates are unchanged because ntfs_save_wsl_perm() writes them via ntfs_set_ea() directly. [almaz.alexandrovich@paragon-software.com: added an additional check for non privileged users]

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.15 before 5.15.211; from 5.16 before 6.1.177; from 6.2 before 6.6.144; from 6.7 before 6.12.95; from 6.13 before 6.18.38; from 6.19 before 7.1.3 — fixed in 5.15.211, 6.1.177, 6.12.95, 6.18.38, 6.6.144, 7.1.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.15.211, 6.1.177, 6.12.95, 6.18.38. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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