Linux Kernel up to 5.10.196/5.15.132/6.1.54/6.5.4 btrfs_iget deadlock

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.196/5.15.132/6.1.54/6.5.4 and classified as critical. This vulnerability affects the function btrfs_iget. This manipulation causes deadlock. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2023-54281. There is no available exploit. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.196/5.15.132/6.1.54/6.5.4. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function btrfs_iget. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a deadlock vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-833. The product contains multiple threads or executable segments that are waiting for each other to release a necessary lock, resulting in deadlock. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: release path before inode lookup during the ino lookup ioctl During the ino lookup ioctl we can end up calling btrfs_iget() to get an inode reference while we are holding on a root's btree. If btrfs_iget() needs to lookup the inode from the root's btree, because it's not currently loaded in memory, then it will need to lock another or the same path in the same root btree. This may result in a deadlock and trigger the following lockdep splat: WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected 6.5.0-rc7-syzkaller-00004-gf7757129e3de #0 Not tainted ------------------------------------------------------ syz-executor277/5012 is trying to acquire lock: ffff88802df41710 (btrfs-tree-01){++++}-{3:3}, at: __btrfs_tree_read_lock+0x2f/0x220 fs/btrfs/locking.c:136 but task is already holding lock: ffff88802df418e8 (btrfs-tree-00){++++}-{3:3}, at: __btrfs_tree_read_lock+0x2f/0x220 fs/btrfs/locking.c:136 which lock already depends on the new lock. the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is: -> #1 (btrfs-tree-00){++++}-{3:3}: down_read_nested+0x49/0x2f0 kernel/locking/rwsem.c:1645 __btrfs_tree_read_lock+0x2f/0x220 fs/btrfs/locking.c:136 btrfs_search_slot+0x13a4/0x2f80 fs/btrfs/ctree.c:2302 btrfs_init_root_free_objectid+0x148/0x320 fs/btrfs/disk-io.c:4955 btrfs_init_fs_root fs/btrfs/disk-io.c:1128 [inline] btrfs_get_root_ref+0x5ae/0xae0 fs/btrfs/disk-io.c:1338 btrfs_get_fs_root fs/btrfs/disk-io.c:1390 [inline] open_ctree+0x29c8/0x3030 fs/btrfs/disk-io.c:3494 btrfs_fill_super+0x1c7/0x2f0 fs/btrfs/super.c:1154 btrfs_mount_root+0x7e0/0x910 fs/btrfs/super.c:1519 legacy_get_tree+0xef/0x190 fs/fs_context.c:611 vfs_get_tree+0x8c/0x270 fs/super.c:1519 fc_mount fs/namespace.c:1112 [inline] vfs_kern_mount+0xbc/0x150 fs/namespace.c:1142 btrfs_mount+0x39f/0xb50 fs/btrfs/super.c:1579 legacy_get_tree+0xef/0x190 fs/fs_context.c:611 vfs_get_tree+0x8c/0x270 fs/super.c:1519 do_new_mount+0x28f/0xae0 fs/namespace.c:3335 do_mount fs/namespace.c:3675 [inline] __do_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3884 [inline] __se_sys_mount+0x2d9/0x3c0 fs/namespace.c:3861 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x41/0xc0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd -> #0 (btrfs-tree-01){++++}-{3:3}: check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3142 [inline] check_prevs_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3261 [inline] validate_chain kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3876 [inline] __lock_acquire+0x39ff/0x7f70 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5144 lock_acquire+0x1e3/0x520 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5761 down_read_nested+0x49/0x2f0 kernel/locking/rwsem.c:1645 __btrfs_tree_read_lock+0x2f/0x220 fs/btrfs/locking.c:136 btrfs_tree_read_lock fs/btrfs/locking.c:142 [inline] btrfs_read_lock_root_node+0x292/0x3c0 fs/btrfs/locking.c:281 btrfs_search_slot_get_root fs/btrfs/ctree.c:1832 [inline] btrfs_search_slot+0x4ff/0x2f80 fs/btrfs/ctree.c:2154 btrfs_lookup_inode+0xdc/0x480 fs/btrfs/inode-item.c:412 btrfs_read_locked_inode fs/btrfs/inode.c:3892 [inline] btrfs_iget_path+0x2d9/0x1520 fs/btrfs/inode.c:5716 btrfs_search_path_in_tree_user fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:1961 [inline] btrfs_ioctl_ino_lookup_user+0x77a/0xf50 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:2105 btrfs_ioctl+0xb0b/0xd40 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:4683 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:870 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl+0xf8/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:856 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x41/0xc0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd other info ---truncated---

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-54281 since 12/30/2025. The exploitation appears 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 281717 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54281), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.197, 5.15.133, 6.1.55 or 6.5.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 7390bb377b5fb3be23cb021e0f184d1f576be7d6/380bbd46d61c894a8dcaace09e54bc7426d81014/50e385d98b2a52480836ea41c142b81eeeb277af/6fdce81e425be112f1ca129776f4041afeaad413/ee34a82e890a7babb5585daf1a6dd7d4d1cf142a 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 (281717) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2941). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• IBM Power Hardware Management Console
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• IBM DataPower Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.196
• 5.15.132
• 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
• 6.1.40
• 6.1.41
• 6.1.42
• 6.1.43
• 6.1.44
• 6.1.45
• 6.1.46
• 6.1.47
• 6.1.48
• 6.1.49
• 6.1.50
• 6.1.51
• 6.1.52
• 6.1.53
• 6.1.54
• 6.5.0
• 6.5.1
• 6.5.2
• 6.5.3
• 6.5.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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