Linux Kernel up to 6.2.6 ext4 fsmap_head off-by-one

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.2.6. It has been classified as problematic. This impacts the function fsmap_head of the component ext4. Performing a manipulation results in off-by-one. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53143. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.2.6. This affects the function fsmap_head of the component ext4. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a off-by-one vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-193. A product calculates or uses an incorrect maximum or minimum value that is 1 more, or 1 less, than the correct value. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix another off-by-one fsmap error on 1k block filesystems Apparently syzbot figured out that issuing this FSMAP call: struct fsmap_head cmd = { .fmh_count = ...; .fmh_keys = { { .fmr_device = /* ext4 dev */, .fmr_physical = 0, }, { .fmr_device = /* ext4 dev */, .fmr_physical = 0, }, }, ... }; ret = ioctl(fd, FS_IOC_GETFSMAP, &cmd); Produces this crash if the underlying filesystem is a 1k-block ext4 filesystem: kernel BUG at fs/ext4/ext4.h:3331! invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP CPU: 3 PID: 3227965 Comm: xfs_io Tainted: G W O 6.2.0-rc8-achx Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:ext4_mb_load_buddy_gfp+0x47c/0x570 [ext4] RSP: 0018:ffffc90007c03998 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: ffff888004978000 RBX: ffffc90007c03a20 RCX: ffff888041618000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000000005a4 RDI: ffffffffa0c99b11 RBP: ffff888012330000 R08: ffffffffa0c2b7d0 R09: 0000000000000400 R10: ffffc90007c03950 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000001 R13: 00000000ffffffff R14: 0000000000000c40 R15: ffff88802678c398 FS: 00007fdf2020c880(0000) GS:ffff88807e100000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007ffd318a5fe8 CR3: 000000007f80f001 CR4: 00000000001706e0 Call Trace: <TASK> ext4_mballoc_query_range+0x4b/0x210 [ext4 dfa189daddffe8fecd3cdfd00564e0f265a8ab80] ext4_getfsmap_datadev+0x713/0x890 [ext4 dfa189daddffe8fecd3cdfd00564e0f265a8ab80] ext4_getfsmap+0x2b7/0x330 [ext4 dfa189daddffe8fecd3cdfd00564e0f265a8ab80] ext4_ioc_getfsmap+0x153/0x2b0 [ext4 dfa189daddffe8fecd3cdfd00564e0f265a8ab80] __ext4_ioctl+0x2a7/0x17e0 [ext4 dfa189daddffe8fecd3cdfd00564e0f265a8ab80] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x82/0xa0 do_syscall_64+0x2b/0x80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 RIP: 0033:0x7fdf20558aff RSP: 002b:00007ffd318a9e30 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00000000000200c0 RCX: 00007fdf20558aff RDX: 00007fdf1feb2010 RSI: 00000000c0c0583b RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00005625c0634be0 R08: 00005625c0634c40 R09: 0000000000000001 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007fdf1feb2010 R13: 00005625be70d994 R14: 0000000000000800 R15: 0000000000000000 For GETFSMAP calls, the caller selects a physical block device by writing its block number into fsmap_head.fmh_keys[01].fmr_device. To query mappings for a subrange of the device, the starting byte of the range is written to fsmap_head.fmh_keys[0].fmr_physical and the last byte of the range goes in fsmap_head.fmh_keys[1].fmr_physical. IOWs, to query what mappings overlap with bytes 3-14 of /dev/sda, you'd set the inputs as follows: fmh_keys[0] = { .fmr_device = major(8, 0), .fmr_physical = 3}, fmh_keys[1] = { .fmr_device = major(8, 0), .fmr_physical = 14}, Which would return you whatever is mapped in the 12 bytes starting at physical offset 3. The crash is due to insufficient range validation of keys[1] in ext4_getfsmap_datadev. On 1k-block filesystems, block 0 is not part of the filesystem, which means that s_first_data_block is nonzero. ext4_get_group_no_and_offset subtracts this quantity from the blocknr argument before cracking it into a group number and a block number within a group. IOWs, block group 0 spans blocks 1-8192 (1-based) instead of 0-8191 (0-based) like what happens with larger blocksizes. The net result of this encoding is that blocknr < s_first_data_block is not a valid input to this function. The end_fsb variable is set from the keys that are copied from userspace, which means that in the above example, its value is zero. That leads to an underflow here: blocknr = blocknr - le32_to_cpu(es->s_first_data_block); The division then operates on -1: offset = do_div(blocknr, EXT4_BLOCKS_PER_GROUP(sb)) >> EXT4_SB(sb)->s_cluster_bits; Leaving an impossibly large group number (2^32-1) in blocknr. ext4_getfsmap_check_keys checked that keys[0 ---truncated---

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-53143 since 05/02/2025. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 01/31/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 249320 (EulerOS 2.0 SP13 : kernel (EulerOS-SA-2025-1979)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 4.14.310, 4.19.278, 5.4.237, 5.10.175, 5.15.103, 6.1.20 or 6.2.7 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch a70b49dc7eee5dbe3775a650ce598e3557ff5475/f16054ac1774915160ca4e1c73ff7a269465a1b9/c24f838493792b5e78a3596b4ca96375aa0af4c2/1d2366624b4c19a2ba6baf67fe57f4a1b0f67c05/c5d7c31e17224d847a330180ec1b03bf390632b2/eb3a695aa71a514f2e7f5778e05faba3733b70a0/15ebade3266b300da9cd1edce4004fe8fd6a2b88/c993799baf9c5861f8df91beb80e1611b12efcbd 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 databases at Tenable (249320) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0932). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell Avamar
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• IBM QRadar SIEM

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 4.14.309
• 4.19.277
• 5.4.236
• 5.10.174
• 5.15.102
• 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
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2
• 6.2.3
• 6.2.4
• 6.2.5
• 6.2.6

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

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Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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