Linux Kernel up to 5.15.103/6.1.20/6.2.7 ext4_get_journal null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.103/6.1.20/6.2.7 and classified as critical. This impacts the function ext4_get_journal. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2023-53091. There is not any exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.103/6.1.20/6.2.7. Affected by this vulnerability is the function ext4_get_journal. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: update s_journal_inum if it changes after journal replay When mounting a crafted ext4 image, s_journal_inum may change after journal replay, which is obviously unreasonable because we have successfully loaded and replayed the journal through the old s_journal_inum. And the new s_journal_inum bypasses some of the checks in ext4_get_journal(), which may trigger a null pointer dereference problem. So if s_journal_inum changes after the journal replay, we ignore the change, and rewrite the current journal_inum to the superblock.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53091 since 05/02/2025. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 242218 (SUSE SLES12 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2025:02334-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.15.104, 6.1.21 or 6.2.8 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 499fef2030fb754c68b1c7cb3a799a3bc1d0d925/70e66bdeae4d0f7c8e87762f425b68aedd5e8955/ee0c5277d4fab920bd31345c49e193ecede9ecef/3039d8b8692408438a618fac2776b629852663c3 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (242218). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.15.103
• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.1.17
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.1.20
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2
• 6.2.3
• 6.2.4
• 6.2.5
• 6.2.6
• 6.2.7

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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