Vulnerability · Published Oct 7, 2025 · Assigned by Linux
CVE-2023-53618btrfs: reject invalid reloc tree root keys with stack dump
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.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: reject invalid reloc tree root keys with stack dump [BUG] Syzbot reported a crash that an ASSERT() got triggered inside prepare_to_merge(). That ASSERT() makes sure the reloc tree is properly pointed back by its subvolume tree. [CAUSE] After more debugging output, it turns out we had an invalid reloc tree: BTRFS error (device loop1): reloc tree mismatch, root 8 has no reloc root, expect reloc root key (-8, 132, 8) gen 17 Note the above root key is (TREE_RELOC_OBJECTID, ROOT_ITEM, QUOTA_TREE_OBJECTID), meaning it's a reloc tree for quota tree. But reloc trees can only exist for subvolumes, as for non-subvolume trees, we just COW the involved tree block, no need to create a reloc tree since those tree blocks won't be shared with other trees. Only subvolumes tree can share tree blocks with other trees (thus they have BTRFS_ROOT_SHAREABLE flag). Thus this new debug output proves my previous assumption that corrupted on-disk data can trigger that ASSERT(). [FIX] Besides the dedicated fix and the graceful exit, also let tree-checker to check such root keys, to make sure reloc trees can only exist for subvolumes.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | linux | 6.1.52-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Debian:13 | linux | 6.4.11-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Debian:14 | linux | 6.4.11-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux | 5.15.0-91.101 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-allwinner-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws | 5.15.0-1051.56 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure | 5.15.0-1053.61 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde | 5.15.0-1053.61.1 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp | 5.15.0-1048.56 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gke | 5.15.0-1048.53 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gkeop | 5.15.0-1034.40 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-ibm | 5.15.0-1044.47 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-intel | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-intel-iot-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-intel-iotg | 5.15.0-1046.52 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-kvm | 5.15.0-1048.53 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency | 5.15.0-91.101 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia | 5.15.0-1042.42 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-tegra | 5.15.0-1020.20 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-tegra-igx | 5.15.0-1007.7 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-5.17 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.0 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.1 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.8 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oracle | 5.15.0-1049.55 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oracle-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-raspi | 5.15.0-1044.47 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-xilinx-zynqmp | 5.15.0-1027.31 | UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53618 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 259ee7754b6793af8bdd77f9ca818bc41cfe9541 – before 314135b7bae9618a317874ae195272682cf2d5d4259ee7754b6793af8bdd77f9ca818bc41cfe9541 – before 3ae93b316ca4b8b3c33798ef1d210355f2fb9318259ee7754b6793af8bdd77f9ca818bc41cfe9541 – before 84256e00eeca73c529fc6196e478cc89b8098157259ee7754b6793af8bdd77f9ca818bc41cfe9541 – before 6ebcd021c92b8e4b904552e4d87283032100796d3d95c52d789ca99e344061d7f6dadb2519adbcf5fba904d68c8bbfcc89c2210cfcb2351be90bc3e55.2.19 – before 5.35.3.4 – before 5.4 |
| Linux | Linux | 5.4 |