CVE-2023-53732

Local system crash via failed inode allocation

Published Oct 22, 2025 · Updated Oct 22, 2025

NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to crash the system during NTFS3 inode creation. If mi_init fails while mi_format_new creates an inode, it clears mi->mrec, and ni_write_inode later dereferences that NULL pointer on the error path. Exploitation requires local access to create an inode on a mounted NTFS volume handled by ntfs3 and an allocation failure; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.19%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to crash the system during NTFS3 inode creation. If mi_init fails while mi_format_new creates an inode, it clears mi->mrec, and ni_write_inode later dereferences that NULL pointer on the error path. Exploitation requires local access to create an inode on a mounted NTFS volume handled by ntfs3 and an allocation failure; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53732
Published
Oct 22, 2025
Updated
Oct 22, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 22, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 22, 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 <8dae4f6341e335a09575be60b4fdf697c732a470
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <b1135fbaf8ebef93df326761ac70ebcc3c2e3d63
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <b3152afc0eb864f7c6ecad134a15b577ef7aec77
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d4b74482529516477cf7b12502538e51827c699f

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <8dae4f6341e335a09575be60b4fdf697c732a470; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <b1135fbaf8ebef93df326761ac70ebcc3c2e3d63; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <b3152afc0eb864f7c6ecad134a15b577ef7aec77; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d4b74482529516477cf7b12502538e51827c699f

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS: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

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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