Vulnerability · Published May 2, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2023-53101ext4: zero i_disksize when initializing the bootloader inode

Medium 5.5

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 10% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS NVD)5.5Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 89.5% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official 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.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12linux6.1.20-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53101
Debian:13linux6.1.20-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53101
Debian:14linux6.1.20-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux5.15.0-79.86UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws5.15.0-1042.47UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure5.15.0-1045.52UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde5.15.0-1045.52.1UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp5.15.0-1039.47UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gke5.15.0-1039.44UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gkeop5.15.0-1025.30UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-ibm5.15.0-1035.38UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iotg5.15.0-1037.42UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-kvm5.15.0-1039.44UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency5.15.0-79.88UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia5.15.0-1030.30UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-tegra5.15.0-1016.16UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-tegra-igx5.15.0-1002.2UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle5.15.0-1040.46UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-raspi5.15.0-1035.38UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-xilinx-zynqmp5.15.0-1025.29UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53101

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux 393d1d1d76933886d5e1ce603214c9987589c6d5 – before d6c1447e483c05dbcfb3ff77ac04237a82070b8c393d1d1d76933886d5e1ce603214c9987589c6d5 – before 59eee0cdf8c036f554add97a4da7c06d7a9ff34a393d1d1d76933886d5e1ce603214c9987589c6d5 – before 0d8a6c9a6415999fee1259ccf1796480c026b7d6393d1d1d76933886d5e1ce603214c9987589c6d5 – before 3f00c476da8fe7c4c34ea16abb55d74127120413393d1d1d76933886d5e1ce603214c9987589c6d5 – before 01a821aacc64d4b05dafd239dbc9b7856686002f393d1d1d76933886d5e1ce603214c9987589c6d5 – before 9cb27b1e76f0cc886ac09055bc41c0ab3f205167393d1d1d76933886d5e1ce603214c9987589c6d5 – before 9e9a4cc5486356158554f6ad73027d8635a48b34393d1d1d76933886d5e1ce603214c9987589c6d5 – before f5361da1e60d54ec81346aee8e3d8baf1be0b762
Linux Linux 3.10

References