CVE-2023-53450

Kernel crash via ext4 block-group underflow

Published Oct 1, 2025 · Updated Oct 1, 2025

Reachable assertion in the Linux ext4 filesystem allows local users to crash the kernel via a corrupted mounted superblock. In ext4_mb_release_group_pa(), an oversized s_first_data_block underflows the block-group calculation and reaches BUG_ON. Exploitation requires mounting or modifying an ext4 volume, operations normally restricted to privileged local users, and the bounded consequence is a kernel panic with no reported confidentiality or integrity impact.

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

What happened

Reachable assertion in the Linux ext4 filesystem allows local users to crash the kernel via a corrupted mounted superblock. In ext4_mb_release_group_pa(), an oversized s_first_data_block underflows the block-group calculation and reaches BUG_ON. Exploitation requires mounting or modifying an ext4 volume, operations normally restricted to privileged local users, and the bounded consequence is a kernel panic with no reported confidentiality or integrity impact.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53450
Published
Oct 1, 2025
Updated
Oct 1, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-617, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 1, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 1, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <185062a21976fbc38f2efd296951b02c4500cf65
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <463808f237cf73e98a1a45ff7460c2406a150a0b
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <53c14e7cc2257191ba15425c15638fc4f8abb92b
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <978e5e9111af18741449b81fefd531a622dd969a
  5. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <b0fc279de4bf17e1710bb7e83906538ff8f11111
  6. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <bf2a16eb4e6d06124bd8436d4546f61539a65f29
  7. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d5bf8f7fb3ee3d99d1303ceb54599ea0599a4a5b
  8. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d87a4e4094c9879fc8acdff8ce59fdffa979c8e0
  9. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <ef16d8a1798db1a1604ac44ca1bd73ec6bebf483

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <185062a21976fbc38f2efd296951b02c4500cf65; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <463808f237cf73e98a1a45ff7460c2406a150a0b; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <53c14e7cc2257191ba15425c15638fc4f8abb92b; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <978e5e9111af18741449b81fefd531a622dd969a; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <b0fc279de4bf17e1710bb7e83906538ff8f11111; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <bf2a16eb4e6d06124bd8436d4546f61539a65f29; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d5bf8f7fb3ee3d99d1303ceb54599ea0599a4a5b; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d87a4e4094c9879fc8acdff8ce59fdffa979c8e0; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <ef16d8a1798db1a1604ac44ca1bd73ec6bebf483

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
6.8SUSECVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-617Reachable Assertion
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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