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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53348

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.23 / 6.2.10 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix deadlock when aborting transaction during relocation with scrub Before relocating a block group we pause scrub, then do the relocation and then unpause scrub. The relocation process requires starting and committing a transaction, and if we have a failure in the critical section of the transaction commit path (transaction state >= TRANS_STATE_COMMIT_START), we will deadlock if there is a paused scrub. That results in stack traces like the following: [42.479] BTRFS info (device sdc): relocating block group 53876686848 flags metadata|raid6 [42.936] BTRFS warning (device sdc): Skipping commit of aborted transaction. [42.936] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [42.936] BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -28) [42.936] WARNING: CPU: 11 PID: 346822 at fs/btrfs/transaction.c:1977 btrfs_commit_transaction+0xcc8/0xeb0 [btrfs] [42.936] Modules linked in: dm_flakey dm_mod loop btrfs (...) [42.936] CPU: 11 PID: 346822 Comm: btrfs Tainted: G W 6.3.0-rc2-btrfs-next-127+ #1 [42.936] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.14.0-0-g155821a1990b-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [42.936] RIP: 0010:btrfs_commit_transaction+0xcc8/0xeb0 [btrfs] [42.936] Code: ff ff 45 8b (...) [42.936] RSP: 0018:ffffb58649633b48 EFLAGS: 00010282 [42.936] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8be6ef4d5bd8 RCX: 0000000000000000 [42.936] RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: ffffffffb35e7782 RDI: 00000000ffffffff [42.936] RBP: ffff8be6ef4d5c98 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffb586496339e8 [42.936] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff8be6d38c7c00 [42.936] R13: 00000000ffffffe4 R14: ffff8be6c268c000 R15: ffff8be6ef4d5cf0 [42.936] FS: 00007f381a82b340(0000) GS:ffff8beddfcc0000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [42.936] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [42.936] CR2: 00007f1e35fb7638 CR3: 0000000117680006 CR4: 0000000000370ee0 [42.936] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [42.936] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [42.936] Call Trace: [42.936] <TASK> [42.936] ? start_transaction+0xcb/0x610 [btrfs] [42.936] prepare_to_relocate+0x111/0x1a0 [btrfs] [42.936] relocate_block_group+0x57/0x5d0 [btrfs] [42.936] ? btrfs_wait_nocow_writers+0x25/0xb0 [btrfs] [42.936] btrfs_relocate_block_group+0x248/0x3c0 [btrfs] [42.936] ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10 [42.936] btrfs_relocate_chunk+0x3b/0x150 [btrfs] [42.936] btrfs_balance+0x8ff/0x11d0 [btrfs] [42.936] ? __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x14a/0x410 [42.936] btrfs_ioctl+0x2334/0x32c0 [btrfs] [42.937] ? mod_objcg_state+0xd2/0x360 [42.937] ? refill_obj_stock+0xb0/0x160 [42.937] ? seq_release+0x25/0x30 [42.937] ? __rseq_handle_notify_resume+0x3b5/0x4b0 [42.937] ? percpu_counter_add_batch+0x2e/0xa0 [42.937] ? __x64_sys_ioctl+0x88/0xc0 [42.937] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x88/0xc0 [42.937] do_syscall_64+0x38/0x90 [42.937] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc [42.937] RIP: 0033:0x7f381a6ffe9b [42.937] Code: 00 48 89 44 24 (...) [42.937] RSP: 002b:00007ffd45ecf060 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 [42.937] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000001 RCX: 00007f381a6ffe9b [42.937] RDX: 00007ffd45ecf150 RSI: 00000000c4009420 RDI: 0000000000000003 [42.937] RBP: 0000000000000003 R08: 0000000000000013 R09: 0000000000000000 [42.937] R10: 00007f381a60c878 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007ffd45ed0423 [42.937] R13: 00007ffd45ecf150 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 00007ffd45ecf148 [42.937] </TASK> [42.937] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [42.937] BTRFS: error (device sdc: state A) in cleanup_transaction:1977: errno=-28 No space left [59.196] INFO: task btrfs:346772 blocked for more than 120 seconds. [59.196] Tainted: G W 6.3.0-rc2-btrfs-next-127+ #1 [59.196] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_ ---truncated---

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-667

Shared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.

General guidance for the improper locking class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 4.3, < 6.1.23>= 6.2, < 6.2.10= 6.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.1.23 / 6.2.10 or later
Fixed in 6.1.236.2.10
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Linux Kernel 6.1.23 or later, or 6.2.10 or later, or 6.4 or later

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Check if the current version is affected (versions < 6.1.23, or >= 6.2 and < 6.2.10, or exactly 6.3)
  3. Plan a kernel upgrade to a fixed version: 6.1.23 or later, 6.2.10 or later, or 6.4 or later
  4. For production systems, test the new kernel in a staging environment first
  5. Apply the kernel upgrade using your distribution's package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get upgrade, yum update, dnf upgrade, or zypper patch)
  6. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  7. Verify the new kernel version is running using 'uname -r'
  8. Confirm the fix commit 10a5831b193390b77705fc174a309476c23ba64a is included in the new kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have driver/compatibility implications; test thoroughly before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53348 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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