Keep the historical auto-mount behavior as the first attempt when the user did not request a filesystem type. If that mount fails on Linux, detect the filesystem with blkid and retry only for FAT-family types that minimal mount implementations may not auto-probe.
Leave explicit filesystem types and NTFS kernel-driver resolution unchanged.
Keep the NTFS kernel-driver option as a generic in-kernel NTFS path rather than an ntfs3-specific path. Add --filesystem=kernel-ntfs and -m kernelntfs routes that select a registered or loadable kernel NTFS driver and mount with -i so mount.ntfs/ntfs-3g helpers are not invoked.
Preserve --filesystem=ntfs3 as a literal pin to the ntfs3 driver. Treat both ntfs3 and kernel-ntfs as mount-only selectors; volume creation continues to use filesystem type NTFS.
The preference and -m kernelntfs path only select an in-kernel NTFS driver when no explicit filesystem type was supplied and blkid detects NTFS.
Treat ntfs as the preferred in-kernel driver on Linux 7.1 and later, where the upstream read/write driver is expected. On earlier kernels, select ntfs only when module metadata identifies the standalone read/write driver and /sys/module confirms it loaded, avoiding ntfs3 read-only ntfs compatibility registrations. Fall back to ntfs3 otherwise, and report a generic kernel-driver error if neither supported driver is available or loadable.
Rename the internal preference/config field to MountNtfsWithKernelDriver, migrate the old MountNtfsWithNtfs3 preference key, and update UI strings, CLI help, documentation, release notes, and translation placeholders accordingly.
Reference: https://github.com/veracrypt/VeraCrypt/issues/1735
Prefer hdiutil plist entities that carry a mount-point when recording the virtual device. This fixes APFS images where the first dev-entry is not the mounted volume.
Add a macOS mounted-volume refresh hook that recovers VirtualDevice and MountPoint from hdiutil info when FUSE-T SMB auxiliary metadata is missing or stale.
When normal filesystem unmount fails, the Linux path could stop before cleaning VeraCrypt mapper, loop and FUSE objects. Add an explicit emergency dismount request that is only reached after interactive confirmation.
The recovery path lazy-detaches mounted filesystems, uses deferred dmsetup removal for VeraCrypt mapper devices, detaches loop devices, and keeps normal force/ignoreOpenFiles behavior unchanged.
Add statfs metadata for the auxiliary FUSE mount, keep /control read-only by sending hdiutil device data through /aux-device-info and tolerate delayed SMB rediscovery during mount completion. Log final control-file retry failures for diagnostics.
Added security checks to prevent mounting VeraCrypt volumes on system directories (like /usr/bin) or directories in the user's PATH, which could theoretically allow execution of malicious binaries instead of legitimate system binaries.
Key changes:
- Block mounting on protected system directories (/usr, /bin, /lib, etc.)
This restriction cannot be overridden
- Block mounting on directories present in user's PATH environment variable
This can be overridden with --allow-insecure-mount flag
- Add visual warnings (red border, "[INSECURE MODE]") when mounting on PATH directories is allowed
- Handle symlinks properly when checking paths
- Add new error messages for blocked mount points
To override PATH-based restrictions only (system directories remain protected):
veracrypt --allow-insecure-mount [options] volume mountpoint
Security Impact: Low to Medium
The attack requires either:
- User explicitly choosing a system directory as mount point instead of using VeraCrypt's default mount points
- Or attacker having both filesystem access to modify favorites configuration AND knowledge of the volume password
Default mount points are not affected by this vulnerability.
Security: CVE-2025-23021
Mounir IDRASSI
Mounir IDRASSI
Mammoth
David Foerster