Linux Kernel up to 6.1.39/6.4.4 dax_zero_range buffer overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.39/6.4.4. This affects the function dax_zero_range. This manipulation causes buffer overflow. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2023-53323. No exploit is available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.39/6.4.4 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function dax_zero_range. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a buffer overflow vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-120. The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer, leading to a buffer overflow. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext2/dax: Fix ext2_setsize when len is page aligned PAGE_ALIGN(x) macro gives the next highest value which is multiple of pagesize. But if x is already page aligned then it simply returns x. So, if x passed is 0 in dax_zero_range() function, that means the length gets passed as 0 to ->iomap_begin(). In ext2 it then calls ext2_get_blocks -> max_blocks as 0 and hits bug_on here in ext2_get_blocks(). BUG_ON(maxblocks == 0); Instead we should be calling dax_truncate_page() here which takes care of it. i.e. it only calls dax_zero_range if the offset is not page/block aligned. This can be easily triggered with following on fsdax mounted pmem device. dd if=/dev/zero of=file count=1 bs=512 truncate -s 0 file [79.525838] EXT2-fs (pmem0): DAX enabled. Warning: EXPERIMENTAL, use at your own risk [79.529376] ext2 filesystem being mounted at /mnt1/test supports timestamps until 2038 (0x7fffffff) [93.793207] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [93.795102] kernel BUG at fs/ext2/inode.c:637! [93.796904] invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI [93.798659] CPU: 0 PID: 1192 Comm: truncate Not tainted 6.3.0-rc2-xfstests-00056-g131086faa369 #139 [93.806459] RIP: 0010:ext2_get_blocks.constprop.0+0x524/0x610 <...> [93.835298] Call Trace: [93.836253] <TASK> [93.837103] ? lock_acquire+0xf8/0x110 [93.838479] ? d_lookup+0x69/0xd0 [93.839779] ext2_iomap_begin+0xa7/0x1c0 [93.841154] iomap_iter+0xc7/0x150 [93.842425] dax_zero_range+0x6e/0xa0 [93.843813] ext2_setsize+0x176/0x1b0 [93.845164] ext2_setattr+0x151/0x200 [93.846467] notify_change+0x341/0x4e0 [93.847805] ? lock_acquire+0xf8/0x110 [93.849143] ? do_truncate+0x74/0xe0 [93.850452] ? do_truncate+0x84/0xe0 [93.851739] do_truncate+0x84/0xe0 [93.852974] do_sys_ftruncate+0x2b4/0x2f0 [93.854404] do_syscall_64+0x3f/0x90 [93.855789] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53323 since 09/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 12/27/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 265648 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53323), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.40 or 6.4.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 9e54fd14bd143c261e52fde74355e85e9526c58c/5cee8bfb8cbd99c97aff85d2bf066b6a496e13ab/fcced95b6ba2a507a83b8b3e0358a8ac16b13e35 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 (265648) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2077). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source 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

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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
• 6.1.21
• 6.1.22
• 6.1.23
• 6.1.24
• 6.1.25
• 6.1.26
• 6.1.27
• 6.1.28
• 6.1.29
• 6.1.30
• 6.1.31
• 6.1.32
• 6.1.33
• 6.1.34
• 6.1.35
• 6.1.36
• 6.1.37
• 6.1.38
• 6.1.39
• 6.4.0
• 6.4.1
• 6.4.2
• 6.4.3
• 6.4.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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Entryinfo

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