What is CVE-2026-72202?

CVE-2026-72202 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 7.1 onward and patched in 7.1.5 and 7.2. CVE-2026-72202 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72202?

CVE-2026-72202 has a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10, rated High severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72202?

Yes, CVE-2026-72202 has been patched. Fixed versions include 7.1.5 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 7.1 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-72202 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-72202 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-72202

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: avoid heap allocation for free-cluster readahead state get_nr_free_clusters() allocates a temporary file_ra_state before it publishes the precomputed free cluster count, sets NVolFreeClusterKnown(), and wakes vol->free_waitq. If that allocation fails, the worker returns without setting the flag or waking waiters, so callers waiting for the free count can block indefinitely. The readahead state is only used synchronously while scanning the bitmap. Keep it on the stack and pass it by address to the readahead helper. This eliminates the early allocation failure path instead of adding a special case that publishes a conservative count and wakes the waitqueue. Zero-initialize the on-stack state because file_ra_state_init() only sets ra_pages and prev_pos. Apply the same treatment to __get_nr_free_mft_records(), which scans the MFT bitmap with the same short-lived readahead state.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-08-15

Last modified 2026-08-18

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.5

out of 10

High

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 7.1 and later are affected. Fixed in 7.1.5, 7.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 7.1

Fixed in

✓ 7.1.5 7.1.x ✓ 7.2

References

2 total

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-72202

Severity High

CVSS score 7.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-08-15

Modified 2026-08-18

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-72202?

CVE-2026-72202 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 7.1 onward and has been patched in 7.1.5 and 7.2. CVE-2026-72202 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72202?

CVE-2026-72202 has a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72202?

Yes. CVE-2026-72202 has been patched. Fixed versions include 7.1.5 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 7.1 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-72202 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-72202 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.