Embodiments described herein provide a linked XOR flash data protection scheme for data storage devices. In particular, the embodiments described herein provide a data storage controller with a memory space efficient XOR-based flash data protection/recovery algorithm with minimal flash block space overhead and support of recovery from full plane failure with neighbor planes disturb (NPD) in a single word line. Additionally, the embodiments described herein provide a reduced flash block space dedicated for XOR parity buffers storage by a factor of a number of planes per die without losing the capability to recover from NPD.