Linux Kernel up to 5.10.187/5.15.120/6.1.38/6.4.3 btrfs btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile allocation of resources

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4.9$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.187/5.15.120/6.1.38/6.4.3. The affected element is the function btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile of the component btrfs. The manipulation leads to allocation of resources. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2023-53243. There is not any exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.187/5.15.120/6.1.38/6.4.3. This issue affects the function btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile of the component btrfs. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a allocation of resources vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-770. The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: add handling for RAID1C23/DUP to btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile Callers of `btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile` expect it to return exactly one allocation profile flag, and failing to do so may ultimately result in a WARN_ON and remount-ro when allocating new blocks, like the below transaction abort on 6.1. `btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile` has two ways of determining the profile, first it checks if a conversion balance is currently running and uses the profile we're converting to. If no balance is currently running, it returns the max-redundancy profile which at least one block in the selected block group has. This works by simply checking each known allocation profile bit in redundancy order. However, `btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile` has not been updated as new flags have been added - first with the `DUP` profile and later with the RAID1C34 profiles. Because of the way it checks, if we have blocks with different profiles and at least one is known, that profile will be selected. However, if none are known we may return a flag set with multiple allocation profiles set. This is currently only possible when a balance from one of the three unhandled profiles to another of the unhandled profiles is canceled after allocating at least one block using the new profile. In that case, a transaction abort like the below will occur and the filesystem will need to be mounted with -o skip_balance to get it mounted rw again (but the balance cannot be resumed without a similar abort). [770.648] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [770.648] BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -22) [770.648] WARNING: CPU: 43 PID: 1159593 at fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:4122 find_free_extent+0x1d94/0x1e00 [btrfs] [770.648] CPU: 43 PID: 1159593 Comm: btrfs Tainted: G W 6.1.0-0.deb11.7-powerpc64le #1 Debian 6.1.20-2~bpo11+1a~test [770.648] Hardware name: T2P9D01 REV 1.00 POWER9 0x4e1202 opal:skiboot-bc106a0 PowerNV [770.648] NIP: c00800000f6784fc LR: c00800000f6784f8 CTR: c000000000d746c0 [770.648] REGS: c000200089afe9a0 TRAP: 0700 Tainted: G W (6.1.0-0.deb11.7-powerpc64le Debian 6.1.20-2~bpo11+1a~test) [770.648] MSR: 9000000002029033 <SF,HV,VEC,EE,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 28848282 XER: 20040000 [770.648] CFAR: c000000000135110 IRQMASK: 0 GPR00: c00800000f6784f8 c000200089afec40 c00800000f7ea800 0000000000000026 GPR04: 00000001004820c2 c000200089afea00 c000200089afe9f8 0000000000000027 GPR08: c000200ffbfe7f98 c000000002127f90 ffffffffffffffd8 0000000026d6a6e8 GPR12: 0000000028848282 c000200fff7f3800 5deadbeef0000122 c00000002269d000 GPR16: c0002008c7797c40 c000200089afef17 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 GPR20: 0000000000000000 0000000000000001 c000200008bc5a98 0000000000000001 GPR24: 0000000000000000 c0000003c73088d0 c000200089afef17 c000000016d3a800 GPR28: c0000003c7308800 c00000002269d000 ffffffffffffffea 0000000000000001 [770.648] NIP [c00800000f6784fc] find_free_extent+0x1d94/0x1e00 [btrfs] [770.648] LR [c00800000f6784f8] find_free_extent+0x1d90/0x1e00 [btrfs] [770.648] Call Trace: [770.648] [c000200089afec40] [c00800000f6784f8] find_free_extent+0x1d90/0x1e00 [btrfs] (unreliable) [770.648] [c000200089afed30] [c00800000f681398] btrfs_reserve_extent+0x1a0/0x2f0 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089afeea0] [c00800000f681bf0] btrfs_alloc_tree_block+0x108/0x670 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089afeff0] [c00800000f66bd68] __btrfs_cow_block+0x170/0x850 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089aff100] [c00800000f66c58c] btrfs_cow_block+0x144/0x288 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089aff1b0] [c00800000f67113c] btrfs_search_slot+0x6b4/0xcb0 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089aff2a0] [c00800000f679f60] lookup_inline_extent_backref+0x128/0x7c0 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089aff3b0] [c00800000f67b338] lookup_extent_backref+0x70/0x190 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089aff470] [c00800000f67b54c] __btrfs_free_extent+0xf4/0x1490 [btrfs] [770.648] [ ---truncated---

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-53243 since 09/15/2025. The exploitation is known to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 265240 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53243), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 6.1.39 or 6.4.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch a3fbd156bd2cd16e3c64e250ebce33eb9f2ef612/12b6d68498982a053a4a7e561a04387e57ca6f1a/4fadf53fa95142f01f215012e97c384529759a72/1b532748ba00bd2a1d9b09e0d5e81280582c7770/160fe8f6fdb13da6111677be6263e5d65e875987 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 (265240) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2053). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

  • Debian Linux
  • Amazon Linux 2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Ubuntu Linux
  • SUSE Linux
  • Oracle Linux
  • IBM QRadar SIEM
  • SUSE openSUSE
  • Open Source Linux Kernel
  • RESF Rocky Linux
  • Dell Secure Connect Gateway
  • F5 F5OS

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.9

VulDB Base Score: 4.6
VulDB Temp Score: 4.4
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Allocation of resources
CWE: CWE-770 / CWE-400 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Nessus ID: 265240
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53243

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.10.188/5.15.121/6.1.39/6.4.4
Patch: a3fbd156bd2cd16e3c64e250ebce33eb9f2ef612/12b6d68498982a053a4a7e561a04387e57ca6f1a/4fadf53fa95142f01f215012e97c384529759a72/1b532748ba00bd2a1d9b09e0d5e81280582c7770/160fe8f6fdb13da6111677be6263e5d65e875987

Timelineinfo

09/15/2025 Advisory disclosed
09/15/2025 +0 days CVE reserved
09/15/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
01/11/2026 +118 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2023-53243 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2023-53243
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-324011
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2025-2053 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 09/15/2025 17:01
Updated: 01/11/2026 02:55
Changes: 09/15/2025 17:01 (59), 09/19/2025 01:45 (2), 12/04/2025 01:42 (12), 12/29/2025 04:27 (7), 01/11/2026 02:55 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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