Linux Kernel up to 6.4.11 ntfs3 ntfs_read_ea use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as critical has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 6.4.11. Affected by this vulnerability is the function ntfs_read_ea of the component ntfs3. Executing a manipulation can lead to use after free. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2023-54125. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.4.11. This vulnerability affects the function ntfs_read_ea of the component ntfs3. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: Return error for inconsistent extended attributes ntfs_read_ea is called when we want to read extended attributes. There are some sanity checks for the validity of the EAs. However, it fails to return a proper error code for the inconsistent attributes, which might lead to unpredicted memory accesses after return. [ 138.916927] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ntfs_set_ea+0x453/0xbf0 [ 138.923876] Write of size 4 at addr ffff88800205cfac by task poc/199 [ 138.931132] [ 138.933016] CPU: 0 PID: 199 Comm: poc Not tainted 6.2.0-rc1+ #4 [ 138.938070] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552ce722-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [ 138.947327] Call Trace: [ 138.949557] <TASK> [ 138.951539] dump_stack_lvl+0x4d/0x67 [ 138.956834] print_report+0x16f/0x4a6 [ 138.960798] ? ntfs_set_ea+0x453/0xbf0 [ 138.964437] ? kasan_complete_mode_report_info+0x7d/0x200 [ 138.969793] ? ntfs_set_ea+0x453/0xbf0 [ 138.973523] kasan_report+0xb8/0x140 [ 138.976740] ? ntfs_set_ea+0x453/0xbf0 [ 138.980578] __asan_store4+0x76/0xa0 [ 138.984669] ntfs_set_ea+0x453/0xbf0 [ 138.988115] ? __pfx_ntfs_set_ea+0x10/0x10 [ 138.993390] ? kernel_text_address+0xd3/0xe0 [ 138.998270] ? __kernel_text_address+0x16/0x50 [ 139.002121] ? unwind_get_return_address+0x3e/0x60 [ 139.005659] ? __pfx_stack_trace_consume_entry+0x10/0x10 [ 139.010177] ? arch_stack_walk+0xa2/0x100 [ 139.013657] ? filter_irq_stacks+0x27/0x80 [ 139.017018] ntfs_setxattr+0x405/0x440 [ 139.022151] ? __pfx_ntfs_setxattr+0x10/0x10 [ 139.026569] ? kvmalloc_node+0x2d/0x120 [ 139.030329] ? kasan_save_stack+0x41/0x60 [ 139.033883] ? kasan_save_stack+0x2a/0x60 [ 139.037338] ? kasan_set_track+0x29/0x40 [ 139.040163] ? kasan_save_alloc_info+0x1f/0x30 [ 139.043588] ? __kasan_kmalloc+0x8b/0xa0 [ 139.047255] ? __kmalloc_node+0x68/0x150 [ 139.051264] ? kvmalloc_node+0x2d/0x120 [ 139.055301] ? vmemdup_user+0x2b/0xa0 [ 139.058584] __vfs_setxattr+0x121/0x170 [ 139.062617] ? __pfx___vfs_setxattr+0x10/0x10 [ 139.066282] __vfs_setxattr_noperm+0x97/0x300 [ 139.070061] __vfs_setxattr_locked+0x145/0x170 [ 139.073580] vfs_setxattr+0x137/0x2a0 [ 139.076641] ? __pfx_vfs_setxattr+0x10/0x10 [ 139.080223] ? __kasan_check_write+0x18/0x20 [ 139.084234] do_setxattr+0xce/0x150 [ 139.087768] setxattr+0x126/0x140 [ 139.091250] ? __pfx_setxattr+0x10/0x10 [ 139.094948] ? __virt_addr_valid+0xcb/0x140 [ 139.097838] ? __call_rcu_common.constprop.0+0x1c7/0x330 [ 139.102688] ? debug_smp_processor_id+0x1b/0x30 [ 139.105985] ? kasan_quarantine_put+0x5b/0x190 [ 139.109980] ? putname+0x84/0xa0 [ 139.113886] ? __kasan_slab_free+0x11e/0x1b0 [ 139.117961] ? putname+0x84/0xa0 [ 139.121316] ? preempt_count_sub+0x1c/0xd0 [ 139.124427] ? __mnt_want_write+0xae/0x100 [ 139.127836] ? mnt_want_write+0x8f/0x150 [ 139.130954] path_setxattr+0x164/0x180 [ 139.133998] ? __pfx_path_setxattr+0x10/0x10 [ 139.137853] ? __pfx_ksys_pwrite64+0x10/0x10 [ 139.141299] ? debug_smp_processor_id+0x1b/0x30 [ 139.145714] ? fpregs_assert_state_consistent+0x6b/0x80 [ 139.150796] __x64_sys_setxattr+0x71/0x90 [ 139.155407] do_syscall_64+0x3f/0x90 [ 139.159035] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc [ 139.163843] RIP: 0033:0x7f108cae4469 [ 139.166481] Code: 00 f3 c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 40 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 088 [ 139.183764] RSP: 002b:00007fff87588388 EFLAGS: 00000286 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000bc [ 139.190657] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f108cae4469 [ 139.196586] RDX: 00007fff875883b0 RSI: 00007fff875883d1 RDI: 00007fff875883b6 [ 139.201716] RBP: 00007fff8758c530 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 00007fff8758c618 [ 139.207940] R10: 0000000000000006 R11: 0000000000000286 R12: 00000000004004c0 [ 139.214007] R13: 00007fff8758c610 R14: 0000000000000000 R15 ---truncated---

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2023-54125 since 12/24/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 01/03/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 279822 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54125), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.4.12 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 1474098b590a426d90f27bb992f17c326e0b60c1/c9db0ff04649aa0b45f497183c957fe260f229f6 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 (279822) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2929). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.4.0
• 6.4.1
• 6.4.2
• 6.4.3
• 6.4.4
• 6.4.5
• 6.4.6
• 6.4.7
• 6.4.8
• 6.4.9
• 6.4.10
• 6.4.11

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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