CVE-2023-52668

System hang via inverted Btrfs lock order

Published May 17, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026

Improper locking in Linux kernel 6.6 through 6.7.2 allows local users to hang the system through Btrfs zoned block-group activity. btrfs_zone_activate() acquires a block-group lock before zone_active_bgs_lock, reversing the order used by btrfs_zone_finish_one_bg(). Reachability requires local low-privileged access and a zoned Btrfs filesystem; the documented consequence is an availability-only system hang.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper locking in Linux kernel 6.6 through 6.7.2 allows local users to hang the system through Btrfs zoned block-group activity. btrfs_zone_activate() acquires a block-group lock before zone_active_bgs_lock, reversing the order used by btrfs_zone_finish_one_bg(). Reachability requires local low-privileged access and a zoned Btrfs filesystem; the documented consequence is an availability-only system hang.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-52668
Published
May 17, 2024
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-667, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 17, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.6
  2. Affected versionversion=a7e1ac7bdc5af91af2d52e6269fdbd92fe9ee353 <1908e9d01e5395adff68d9d308a0fb15337e6272
  3. Affected versionversion=a7e1ac7bdc5af91af2d52e6269fdbd92fe9ee353 <6f74989f5909cdec9b1274641f0fa306b15bb476
  4. Affected versionversion=a7e1ac7bdc5af91af2d52e6269fdbd92fe9ee353 <b18f3b60b35a8c01c9a2a0f0d6424c6d73971dc3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.6; version=a7e1ac7bdc5af91af2d52e6269fdbd92fe9ee353 <1908e9d01e5395adff68d9d308a0fb15337e6272; version=a7e1ac7bdc5af91af2d52e6269fdbd92fe9ee353 <6f74989f5909cdec9b1274641f0fa306b15bb476; version=a7e1ac7bdc5af91af2d52e6269fdbd92fe9ee353 <b18f3b60b35a8c01c9a2a0f0d6424c6d73971dc3

Published CVSS scores

5.5Canonical UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-667Improper Locking
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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