CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2023-53101

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS v3
NVD

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: zero i_disksize when initializing the bootloader inode If the boot loader inode has never been used before, the EXT4_IOC_SWAP_BOOT inode will initialize it, including setting the i_size to 0. However, if the "never before used" boot loader has a non-zero i_size, then i_disksize will be non-zero, and the inconsistency between i_size and i_disksize can trigger a kernel warning: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 2580 at fs/ext4/file.c:319 CPU: 0 PID: 2580 Comm: bb Not tainted 6.3.0-rc1-00004-g703695902cfa RIP: 0010:ext4_file_write_iter+0xbc7/0xd10 Call Trace: vfs_write+0x3b1/0x5c0 ksys_write+0x77/0x160 __x64_sys_write+0x22/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x39/0x80 Reproducer: 1. create corrupted image and mount it: mke2fs -t ext4 /tmp/foo.img 200 debugfs -wR "sif <5> size 25700" /tmp/foo.img mount -t ext4 /tmp/foo.img /mnt cd /mnt echo 123 > file 2. Run the reproducer program: posix_memalign(&buf, 1024, 1024) fd = open("file", O_RDWR | O_DIRECT); ioctl(fd, EXT4_IOC_SWAP_BOOT); write(fd, buf, 1024); Fix this by setting i_disksize as well as i_size to zero when initiaizing the boot loader inode.

How to fix

Remediation Available
linuxDebian
Fixed in:5.10.178-1CVE-2023-53101
Fixed in:6.1.20-1CVE-2023-53101
Fixed in:6.1.20-1CVE-2023-53101
Fixed in:6.1.20-1CVE-2023-53101

Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.

CVSS v3 Vector

Exploitability

Attack VectorLocal
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityHigh

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploit Intelligence

0.17%probability of exploitation in 30 days
6thpercentile

Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 6% of all known CVEs.

References

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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-11-10.