Linux Kernel up to c0c8edbc8abbe8f16d80a1d794d1ba2c12b6f193 ext4 fs/ext4/extents.c ext4_clu_mapped use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to c0c8edbc8abbe8f16d80a1d794d1ba2c12b6f193. This affects the function ext4_clu_mapped of the file fs/ext4/extents.c of the component ext4. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2023-53692. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to c0c8edbc8abbe8f16d80a1d794d1ba2c12b6f193. This affects the function ext4_clu_mapped of the file fs/ext4/extents.c of the component ext4. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix use-after-free read in ext4_find_extent for bigalloc + inline Syzbot found the following issue: loop0: detected capacity change from 0 to 2048 EXT4-fs (loop0): mounted filesystem 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 without journal. Quota mode: none. ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ext4_ext_binsearch_idx fs/ext4/extents.c:768 [inline] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ext4_find_extent+0x76e/0xd90 fs/ext4/extents.c:931 Read of size 4 at addr ffff888073644750 by task syz-executor420/5067 CPU: 0 PID: 5067 Comm: syz-executor420 Not tainted 6.2.0-rc1-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 10/26/2022 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x1b1/0x290 lib/dump_stack.c:106 print_address_description+0x74/0x340 mm/kasan/report.c:306 print_report+0x107/0x1f0 mm/kasan/report.c:417 kasan_report+0xcd/0x100 mm/kasan/report.c:517 ext4_ext_binsearch_idx fs/ext4/extents.c:768 [inline] ext4_find_extent+0x76e/0xd90 fs/ext4/extents.c:931 ext4_clu_mapped+0x117/0x970 fs/ext4/extents.c:5809 ext4_insert_delayed_block fs/ext4/inode.c:1696 [inline] ext4_da_map_blocks fs/ext4/inode.c:1806 [inline] ext4_da_get_block_prep+0x9e8/0x13c0 fs/ext4/inode.c:1870 ext4_block_write_begin+0x6a8/0x2290 fs/ext4/inode.c:1098 ext4_da_write_begin+0x539/0x760 fs/ext4/inode.c:3082 generic_perform_write+0x2e4/0x5e0 mm/filemap.c:3772 ext4_buffered_write_iter+0x122/0x3a0 fs/ext4/file.c:285 ext4_file_write_iter+0x1d0/0x18f0 call_write_iter include/linux/fs.h:2186 [inline] new_sync_write fs/read_write.c:491 [inline] vfs_write+0x7dc/0xc50 fs/read_write.c:584 ksys_write+0x177/0x2a0 fs/read_write.c:637 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x3d/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd RIP: 0033:0x7f4b7a9737b9 RSP: 002b:00007ffc5cac3668 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000001 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f4b7a9737b9 RDX: 00000000175d9003 RSI: 0000000020000200 RDI: 0000000000000004 RBP: 00007f4b7a933050 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 000000000000079f R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007f4b7a9330e0 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 </TASK> Above issue is happens when enable bigalloc and inline data feature. As commit 131294c35ed6 fixed delayed allocation bug in ext4_clu_mapped for bigalloc + inline. But it only resolved issue when has inline data, if inline data has been converted to extent(ext4_da_convert_inline_data_to_extent) before writepages, there is no EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA flag. However i_data is still store inline data in this scene. Then will trigger UAF when find extent. To resolve above issue, there is need to add judge "ext4_has_inline_data(inode)" in ext4_clu_mapped().

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-53692 since 10/22/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. 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 02/28/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 297598 (EulerOS 2.0 SP13 : kernel (EulerOS-SA-2026-1212)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.4.243, 5.10.180, 5.15.111, 6.1.28, 6.2.15 or 6.3.2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch a34f6dcb78c654ab905642c1b4e7e5fbb4f0babe/770b0613637f59f3091dda1ff0c23671a5326b9c/40566def189c513be2c694681256d7486cc6e368/96d440bee177669dc0acedca0abd73bae6a9be8b/11c87c8df2cae1d6be83c07e59fef0792de73482/14da044725a3ab10affa3566d29c15737c0e67a4/835659598c67907b98cd2aa57bb951dfaf675c69 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 (297598) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2394). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell NetWorker

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.4.242
• 5.10.179
• 5.15.110
• 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
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2
• 6.2.3
• 6.2.4
• 6.2.5
• 6.2.6
• 6.2.7
• 6.2.8
• 6.2.9
• 6.2.10
• 6.2.11
• 6.2.12
• 6.2.13
• 6.2.14
• 6.3.0
• 6.3.1
• c0c8edbc8abbe8f16d80a1d794d1ba2c12b6f193

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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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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