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🛡️ CVE-2023-53294 — kernel

🟡 CVSS 5.5 — Medium ✅ No Known Exploit NVD
5.5
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

fs/ntfs3: Fix null-ptr-deref on inode->i_op in ntfs_lookup()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

fs/ntfs3: Fix null-ptr-deref on inode->i_op in ntfs_lookup()

Syzbot reported a null-ptr-deref bug:

ntfs3: loop0: Different NTFS' sector size (1024) and media sector size

(512)

ntfs3: loop0: Mark volume as dirty due to NTFS errors

general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address

0xdffffc0000000001: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN

KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000008-0x000000000000000f]

RIP: 0010:d_flags_for_inode fs/dcache.c:1980 [inline]

RIP: 0010:__d_add+0x5ce/0x800 fs/dcache.c:2796

Call Trace:

<TASK>

d_splice_alias+0x122/0x3b0 fs/dcache.c:3191

lookup_open fs/namei.c:3391 [inline]

open_last_lookups fs/namei.c:3481 [inline]

path_openat+0x10e6/0x2df0 fs/namei.c:3688

do_filp_open+0x264/0x4f0 fs/namei.c:3718

do_sys_openat2+0x124/0x4e0 fs/open.c:1310

do_sys_open fs/open.c:1326 [inline]

__do_sys_open fs/open.c:1334 [inline]

__se_sys_open fs/open.c:1330 [inline]

__x64_sys_open+0x221/0x270 fs/open.c:1330

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

If the MFT record of ntfs inode is not a base record, inode->i_op can be

NULL. And a null-ptr-deref may happen:

ntfs_lookup()

dir_search_u() # inode->i_op is set to NULL

d_splice_alias()

__d_add()

d_flags_for_inode() # inode->i_op->get_link null-ptr-deref

Fix this by adding a Check on inode->i_op before calling the

d_splice_alias() function.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

  • Attack vector: Local — a local account, shell or session on the host is needed.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: Low — an ordinary user account is enough.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: None.
  • Integrity impact: None.
  • Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Affected software

CVE-2023-53294 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • kernel (from 6.3.0 up to 6.3.3)
  • linux-kernel (from 6.3 up to 6.3.3)

Timeline and source

Published on 16 September 2025 and last revised on 12 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.

References

git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
github.com (Advisory)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
git.kernel.org (Package)

Other advisories for this package

kernel has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

CVE-2023-53294 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity Medium
CVSS Score 5.5
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE N/A
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2025-09-16
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-08-12

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
kernel 6.3.0 6.3.3
linux-kernel 6.3 6.3.3

Similar Threats

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