CVE-2026-72188: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-mp9c-j9qx-8x7c
Share
CVSS 9.1
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-72188 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.1) security vulnerability vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-72188 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-72188
GHSA Identifier GHSA-mp9c-j9qx-8x7c
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.1
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.1

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-72188

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-72188, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under General Security Weakness. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ntfs: sanitize MFT references returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() returns MFT references read from directory index entries on disk. These values are untrusted, but the function can currently return an error-marked MFT reference to its callers without validating it. Callers later decode lookup failures with MREF_ERR(). A crafted NTFS image can set the MREF error bit while leaving the low bits as an arbitrary value, causing callers to consume a bogus pseudo-errno instead of treating the lookup result as corrupted on-disk metadata. Fix this at the source by normalizing every error-marked MFT reference returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() to ERR_MREF(-EIO). Apply this to all four directory lookup return paths so every caller gets a validated result without needing additional checks or an API change. This keeps the sanitization in the common lookup helper, which is cleaner than duplicating validation in each caller.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-72188 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72188
git.kernel.org/stable/c/83f396d881... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83f396d881c4fd312c7fd5fff2c157fc21104464
git.kernel.org/stable/c/d97a36bae8... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d97a36bae86a9a4021562ded2987f904e6bcb1d7

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-72188?
CVE-2026-72188 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under General Security Weakness.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-72188?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-72188?
CVE-2026-72188 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-72188?
CVE-2026-72188 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-72188?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-mp9c-j9qx-8x7c",
  "modified" : "2026-08-17T06:33:15Z",
  "published" : "2026-08-15T06:32:15Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-72188" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nntfs: sanitize MFT references returned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name()\n\nntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() returns MFT references read from directory\nindex entries on disk. These values are untrusted, but the function can\ncurrently return an error-marked MFT reference to its callers without\nvalidating it.\n\nCallers later decode lookup failures with MREF_ERR(). A crafted NTFS image\ncan set the MREF error bit while leaving the low bits as an arbitrary\nvalue, causing callers to consume a bogus pseudo-errno instead of treating\nthe lookup result as corrupted on-disk metadata.\n\nFix this at the source by normalizing every error-marked MFT reference\nreturned from ntfs_lookup_inode_by_name() to ERR_MREF(-EIO). Apply this to\nall four directory lookup return paths so every caller gets a validated\nresult without needing additional checks or an API change.\n\nThis keeps the sanitization in the common lookup helper, which is cleaner\nthan duplicating validation in each caller.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72188"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83f396d881c4fd312c7fd5fff2c157fc21104464"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d97a36bae86a9a4021562ded2987f904e6bcb1d7"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-08-15T06:21:37Z"
  }
}