Vulnerability · Published Sep 16, 2025 · Assigned by Linux
CVE-2023-53311nilfs2: fix use-after-free of nilfs_root in dirtying inodes via iput
High 7.8
In plain English
A high-severity use-after-free 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 6% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nilfs2: fix use-after-free of nilfs_root in dirtying inodes via iput During unmount process of nilfs2, nothing holds nilfs_root structure after nilfs2 detaches its writer in nilfs_detach_log_writer(). Previously, nilfs_evict_inode() could cause use-after-free read for nilfs_root if inodes are left in "garbage_list" and released by nilfs_dispose_list at the end of nilfs_detach_log_writer(), and this bug was fixed by commit 9b5a04ac3ad9 ("nilfs2: fix use-after-free bug of nilfs_root in nilfs_evict_inode()"). However, it turned out that there is another possibility of UAF in the call path where mark_inode_dirty_sync() is called from iput(): nilfs_detach_log_writer() nilfs_dispose_list() iput() mark_inode_dirty_sync() __mark_inode_dirty() nilfs_dirty_inode() __nilfs_mark_inode_dirty() nilfs_load_inode_block() --> causes UAF of nilfs_root struct This can happen after commit 0ae45f63d4ef ("vfs: add support for a lazytime mount option"), which changed iput() to call mark_inode_dirty_sync() on its final reference if i_state has I_DIRTY_TIME flag and i_nlink is non-zero. This issue appears after commit 28a65b49eb53 ("nilfs2: do not write dirty data after degenerating to read-only") when using the syzbot reproducer, but the issue has potentially existed before. Fix this issue by adding a "purging flag" to the nilfs structure, setting that flag while disposing the "garbage_list" and checking it in __nilfs_mark_inode_dirty(). Unlike commit 9b5a04ac3ad9 ("nilfs2: fix use-after-free bug of nilfs_root in nilfs_evict_inode()"), this patch does not rely on ns_writer to determine whether to skip operations, so as not to break recovery on mount. The nilfs_salvage_orphan_logs routine dirties the buffer of salvaged data before attaching the log writer, so changing __nilfs_mark_inode_dirty() to skip the operation when ns_writer is NULL will cause recovery write to fail. The purpose of using the cleanup-only flag is to allow for narrowing of such conditions.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | linux | 6.1.52-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Debian:13 | linux | 6.4.11-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Debian:14 | linux | 6.4.11-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux | 5.15.0-91.101 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-allwinner-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws | 5.15.0-1051.56 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure | 5.15.0-1053.61 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde | 5.15.0-1053.61.1 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp | 5.15.0-1048.56 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gke | 5.15.0-1048.53 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gkeop | 5.15.0-1034.40 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-ibm | 5.15.0-1044.47 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-intel | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-intel-iot-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-intel-iotg | 5.15.0-1046.52 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-kvm | 5.15.0-1048.53 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency | 5.15.0-91.101 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia | 5.15.0-1042.42 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-tegra | 5.15.0-1020.20 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-tegra-igx | 5.15.0-1007.7 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-5.17 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.0 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.1 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.8 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oracle | 5.15.0-1049.55 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oracle-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-raspi | 5.15.0-1044.47 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-xilinx-zynqmp | 5.15.0-1027.31 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53311 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 0ae45f63d4ef8d8eeec49c7d8b44a1775fff13e8 – before 11afd67f1b3c28eb216e50a3ca8dbcb69bb717930ae45f63d4ef8d8eeec49c7d8b44a1775fff13e8 – before a3c3b4cbf9b8554120fb230e6516e980c62774870ae45f63d4ef8d8eeec49c7d8b44a1775fff13e8 – before d2c539c216cce74837a9cf5804eb205939b822270ae45f63d4ef8d8eeec49c7d8b44a1775fff13e8 – before 37207240872456fbab44a110bde66404452339630ae45f63d4ef8d8eeec49c7d8b44a1775fff13e8 – before 3645510cf926e6af2f4d44899370d7e5331c93bd0ae45f63d4ef8d8eeec49c7d8b44a1775fff13e8 – before 7532ff6edbf5242376b24a95a2fefb59bb653e5a0ae45f63d4ef8d8eeec49c7d8b44a1775fff13e8 – before 5828d5f5dc877dcfdd7b23102e978e2ecfd86d820ae45f63d4ef8d8eeec49c7d8b44a1775fff13e8 – before f8654743a0e6909dc634cbfad6db6816f10f3399 |
| Linux | Linux | 4.0 |
Weakness: CWE-416 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/11afd67f1b3c28eb216e50a3ca8dbcb69bb71793
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a3c3b4cbf9b8554120fb230e6516e980c6277487
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d2c539c216cce74837a9cf5804eb205939b82227
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37207240872456fbab44a110bde6640445233963
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3645510cf926e6af2f4d44899370d7e5331c93bd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7532ff6edbf5242376b24a95a2fefb59bb653e5a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5828d5f5dc877dcfdd7b23102e978e2ecfd86d82
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f8654743a0e6909dc634cbfad6db6816f10f3399