CVE-2026-53023

Description

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's NTFS3 file system driver. The ntfs_fill_super() function, responsible for loading the volume label, did not properly null-terminate the converted UTF-8 label. This oversight could allow the ntfs3_label_show() function to read beyond the allocated buffer when displaying the volume label, potentially leading to information disclosure.

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

CWE-170

Confidentiality,Integrity,Availability

Technical Impact: Read Memory; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

The case of an omitted null character is the most dangerous of the possible issues. This will almost certainly result in information disclosure, and possibly a buffer overflow condition, which may be exploited to execute arbitrary code.

Confidentiality,Integrity,Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; Read Memory; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)

If a null character is omitted from a string, then most string-copying functions will read data until they locate a null character, even outside of the intended boundaries of the string. This could: cause a crash due to a segmentation fault cause sensitive adjacent memory to be copied and sent to an outsider trigger a buffer overflow when the copy is being written to a fixed-size buffer.

Integrity,Availability

Technical Impact: Modify Memory; DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

Misplaced null characters may result in any number of security problems. The biggest issue is a subset of buffer overflow, and write-what-where conditions, where data corruption occurs from the writing of a null character over valid data, or even instructions. A randomly placed null character may put the system into an undefined state, and therefore make it prone to crashing. A misplaced null character may corrupt other data in memory.

Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control,Other

Technical Impact: Alter Execution Logic; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Should the null character corrupt the process flow, or affect a flag controlling access, it may lead to logical errors which allow for the execution of arbitrary code.

Frequently Asked Questions

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