Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-71266 is a medium-severity Infinite Loop (CWE-835) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-208819
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: ntfs3: check return value of indx_find to avoid infinite loop We found an infinite loop bug in the ntfs3 file system that can lead to a Denial-of-Service (DoS) condition.…
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A malformed dentry in the ntfs3 filesystem can cause the kernel to hang during the lookup operations. By setting the HAS_SUB_NODE flag in an INDEX_ENTRY within a directory's INDEX_ALLOCATION block and manipulating the VCN pointer, an attacker can cause the indx_find() function to repeatedly read the same block, allocating 4 KB of memory each time. The kernel lacks VCN loop detection and depth limits, causing memory exhaustion and an OOM crash. This patch adds a return value check for fnd_push() to prevent a memory exhaustion vulnerability caused by infinite loops. When the index exceeds the size of the fnd->nodes array, fnd_push() returns -EINVAL. The indx_find() function checks this return value and stops processing, preventing further memory allocation.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover unreachable loop exit conditions through static analysis, fuzzing, or execution tracing.
Flaw remediation processes identify and correct infinite-loop defects reported from testing or operations.
Requiring documented development processes and secure coding standards reduces introduction of loops whose termination conditions are unreachable.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can uncover infinite-loop conditions before release.
Secure development life cycle mandates practices that can detect and prevent infinite-loop defects.
Application security requirements can specify loop-termination rules, indirectly reducing the weakness.
Secure coding standards directly address loop termination and prevent infinite loops.
Secure architecture principles encourage designs that avoid unreachable exit conditions.
Change management can require review of loop logic when code is modified.