CVE-2023-53683Public exploit

Kernel crash via malformed HFS+ catalog length

Published Oct 7, 2025 · Updated Oct 7, 2025

Reachable assertion in Linux HFS+ support allows local users to crash the kernel through a crafted filesystem image. hfsplus_cat_read_inode() and hfsplus_cat_write_inode() invoke WARN_ON() for a bogus catalog-record length instead of handling the malformed metadata as an ordinary error. The image must be processed locally; systems configured to panic on warnings can suffer a kernel panic and service interruption.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.15%
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 Linux HFS+ support allows local users to crash the kernel through a crafted filesystem image. hfsplus_cat_read_inode() and hfsplus_cat_write_inode() invoke WARN_ON() for a bogus catalog-record length instead of handling the malformed metadata as an ordinary error. The image must be processed locally; systems configured to panic on warnings can suffer a kernel panic and service interruption.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53683
Published
Oct 7, 2025
Updated
Oct 7, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-617, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 7, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 7, 2025Record 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=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <37cab61a52d6f42b2d961c51bcf369f09e235fb5
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <3a9d68d84b2e41ba3f2a727b36f035fad6800492
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <48960a503fcec76d3f72347b7e679dda08ca43be
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <61af77acd039ffd221bf7adf0dc95d0a4d377505
  5. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <81b21c0f0138ff5a499eafc3eb0578ad2a99622c
  6. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a75d9211a07fed513c08c5d4861c4a36ac6a74fe
  7. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <c074913b12db3632b11588b31bbfb0fa80a0a1c9
  8. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <c8daee66585897a4c90d937c91e762100237bff9

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <37cab61a52d6f42b2d961c51bcf369f09e235fb5; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <3a9d68d84b2e41ba3f2a727b36f035fad6800492; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <48960a503fcec76d3f72347b7e679dda08ca43be; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <61af77acd039ffd221bf7adf0dc95d0a4d377505; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <81b21c0f0138ff5a499eafc3eb0578ad2a99622c; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a75d9211a07fed513c08c5d4861c4a36ac6a74fe; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <c074913b12db3632b11588b31bbfb0fa80a0a1c9; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <c8daee66585897a4c90d937c91e762100237bff9

Published CVSS scores

5.5NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.8LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.3SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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 exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-617Reachable Assertion
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

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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