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🛡️ CVE-2023-54121 — kernel

🟠 CVSS 7.8 — High ✅ No Known Exploit NVD
7.8
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

btrfs: fix incorrect splitting in btrfs_drop_extent_map_range

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

btrfs: fix incorrect splitting in btrfs_drop_extent_map_range

In production we were seeing a variety of WARN_ON()'s in the extent_map

code, specifically in btrfs_drop_extent_map_range() when we have to call

add_extent_mapping() for our second split.

Consider the following extent map layout

PINNED

[0 16K) [32K, 48K)

and then we call btrfs_drop_extent_map_range for [0, 36K), with

skip_pinned == true. The initial loop will have

start = 0

end = 36K

len = 36K

we will find the [0, 16k) extent, but since we are pinned we will skip

it, which has this code

start = em_end;

if (end != (u64)-1)

len = start + len - em_end;

em_end here is 16K, so now the values are

start = 16K

len = 16K + 36K - 16K = 36K

len should instead be 20K. This is a problem when we find the next

extent at [32K, 48K), we need to split this extent to leave [36K, 48k),

however the code for the split looks like this

split->start = start + len;

split->len = em_end - (start + len);

In this case we have

em_end = 48K

split->start = 16K + 36K // this should be 16K + 20K

split->len = 48K - (16K + 36K) // this overflows as 16K + 36K is 52K

and now we have an invalid extent_map in the tree that potentially

overlaps other entries in the extent map. Even in the non-overlapping

case we will have split->start set improperly, which will cause problems

with any block related calculations.

We don't actually need len in this loop, we can simply use end as our

end point, and only adjust start up when we find a pinned extent we need

to skip.

Adjust the logic to do this, which keeps us from inserting an invalid

extent map.

We only skip_pinned in the relocation case, so this is relatively rare,

except in the case where you are running relocation a lot, which can

happen with auto relocation on.

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 high, integrity high, 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:H/I:H/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: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.
  • Integrity impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.
  • Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Affected software

CVE-2023-54121 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • kernel (from 6.2.0 up to 6.4.12)
  • unknown

Timeline and source

Published on 24 December 2025 and last revised on 12 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from NVD.

References

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:

Details

Severity High
CVSS Score 7.8
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE N/A
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2025-12-24
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-08-12
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
kernel 6.2.0 6.4.12
unknown — —

Similar Threats

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ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

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