diff --git a/src/artifacts/NtfsMftArtifactReader.test.ts b/src/artifacts/NtfsMftArtifactReader.test.ts
index 8678621511..a5990944d2 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/NtfsMftArtifactReader.test.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/NtfsMftArtifactReader.test.ts
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ it("reports incomplete coverage when FILE extents contradict the record slots",
   );
   expect(inventory.coverage.status).toBe("unknown");
   expect(inventory.limitations).toContainEqual(
-    "2 FILE record(s) declare inconsistent used or total byte counts, beginning at offset 0",
+    "2 FILE record(s) declare inconsistent record extents, beginning at offset 0",
   );
   expect(inventory.occurrences[0]?.format_metadata).toMatchObject({
     record_count: 2,
diff --git a/src/domain/windows/ntfsMft.test.ts b/src/domain/windows/ntfsMft.test.ts
index 9ed0712657..9439cec8ff 100644
--- a/src/domain/windows/ntfsMft.test.ts
+++ b/src/domain/windows/ntfsMft.test.ts
@@ -56,9 +56,11 @@ const recordOf = (options: RecordOptions = {}): Uint8Array => {
 
   view.setUint16(16, sequenceNumber, true);
   view.setUint16(18, options.hardLinkCount ?? 1, true);
-  view.setUint16(20, 56, true);
+  const firstAttributeOffset =
+    Math.ceil((48 + Math.max(0, usaEntries) * 2) / 8) * 8;
+  view.setUint16(20, firstAttributeOffset, true);
   view.setUint16(22, options.flags ?? 0x0001, true);
-  view.setUint32(24, 56, true);
+  view.setUint32(24, firstAttributeOffset, true);
   view.setUint32(28, recordBytes, true);
   view.setBigUint64(32, options.baseRecordReference ?? 0n, true);
   view.setUint16(40, 0, true);
@@ -121,6 +123,18 @@ describe("MFT header facts", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it.each([0, 49, 64])(
+    "reports an invalid first attribute offset %i",
+    (offset) => {
+      const record = recordOf();
+      new DataView(record.buffer).setUint16(20, offset, true);
+      const parsed = parseMftImage(record);
+      if (!parsed.ok) throw new Error(parsed.error.message);
+      expect(parsed.value.records[0]?.extentValid).toBe(false);
+      expect(parsed.value.limitations.join(" ")).toContain("inconsistent");
+    },
+  );
+
   it("keeps the inline header window separate from the parsed record count", () => {
     const parsed = parseMftImage(
       streamOf(...Array.from({ length: 33 }, () => recordOf())),
diff --git a/src/domain/windows/ntfsMft.ts b/src/domain/windows/ntfsMft.ts
index bc901e5e6d..3ecfc5d89e 100644
--- a/src/domain/windows/ntfsMft.ts
+++ b/src/domain/windows/ntfsMft.ts
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ const scanMft = (
 
   if (firstInvalidExtentOffset !== undefined)
     limitations.push(
-      `${String(invalidExtents)} FILE record(s) declare inconsistent used or total byte counts, beginning at offset ${String(firstInvalidExtentOffset)}`,
+      `${String(invalidExtents)} FILE record(s) declare inconsistent record extents, beginning at offset ${String(firstInvalidExtentOffset)}`,
     );
 
   const truncatedTailBytes = bytes.length % recordBytes;
@@ -359,6 +359,10 @@ const readRecord = (
   const fixups = verifyFixups(record, view, usaOffset);
   const usedBytes = view.getUint32(RECORD_HEADER.usedBytes, true);
   const totalBytes = view.getUint32(RECORD_HEADER.totalBytes, true);
+  const firstAttributeOffset = view.getUint16(
+    RECORD_HEADER.firstAttributeOffset,
+    true,
+  );
 
   return {
     index,
@@ -374,7 +378,12 @@ const readRecord = (
       totalBytes === recordBytes &&
       usedBytes >= NTFS_MFT_MIN_RECORD_BYTES &&
       usedBytes % 8 === 0 &&
-      usedBytes <= totalBytes,
+      usedBytes <= totalBytes &&
+      firstAttributeOffset % 8 === 0 &&
+      firstAttributeOffset >= NTFS_MFT_MIN_RECORD_BYTES &&
+      firstAttributeOffset <= usedBytes &&
+      (fixups.malformed ||
+        firstAttributeOffset >= usaOffset + fixups.entries * 2),
     baseRecordReference:
       baseRecordReference === 0n
         ? null
@@ -386,10 +395,7 @@ const readRecord = (
     logFileSequenceNumber: view
       .getBigUint64(RECORD_HEADER.logFileSequenceNumber, true)
       .toString(),
-    firstAttributeOffset: view.getUint16(
-      RECORD_HEADER.firstAttributeOffset,
-      true,
-    ),
+    firstAttributeOffset,
     nextAttributeId: view.getUint16(RECORD_HEADER.nextAttributeId, true),
     fixups,
   };