CVE-2023-53149
Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: avoid deadlock in fs reclaim with page writeback Ext4 has a filesystem wide lock protecting ext4_writepages() calls to avoid races with switching of journalled data flag or inode format. This lock can however cause a deadlock like: CPU0 CPU1 ext4_writepages() percpu_down_read(sbi->s_writepages_rwsem); ext4_change_inode_journal_flag() percpu_down_write(sbi->s_writepages_rwsem); - blocks, all readers block from now on ext4_do_writepages() ext4_init_io_end() kmem_cache_zalloc(io_end_cachep, GFP_KERNEL) fs_reclaim frees dentry... dentry_unlink_inode() iput() - last ref => iput_final() - inode dirty => write_inode_now()... ext4_writepages() tries to acquire sbi->s_writepages_rwsem and blocks forever Make sure we cannot recurse into filesystem reclaim from writeback code to avoid the deadlock.
Severity
MEDIUM
CVSS score
5.5
(v3.1)
Vulnerability status
Modified
Source identifier
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Published
2025-09-15 14:15:37.393000
Last modified
2026-10-30 13:17:17.540000
View original CVE JSON
{
"id": "CVE-2023-53149",
"sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"published": "2025-09-15T14:15:37.393",
"lastModified": "2026-10-30T13:17:17.540",
"vulnStatus": "Modified",
"cveTags": [],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\next4: avoid deadlock in fs reclaim with page writeback\n\nExt4 has a filesystem wide lock protecting ext4_writepages() calls to\navoid races with switching of journalled data flag or inode format. This\nlock can however cause a deadlock like:\n\nCPU0 CPU1\n\next4_writepages()\n percpu_down_read(sbi->s_writepages_rwsem);\n ext4_change_inode_journal_flag()\n percpu_down_write(sbi->s_writepages_rwsem);\n - blocks, all readers block from now on\n ext4_do_writepages()\n ext4_init_io_end()\n kmem_cache_zalloc(io_end_cachep, GFP_KERNEL)\n fs_reclaim frees dentry...\n dentry_unlink_inode()\n iput() - last ref =>\n iput_final() - inode dirty =>\n write_inode_now()...\n ext4_writepages() tries to acquire sbi->s_writepages_rwsem\n and blocks forever\n\nMake sure we cannot recurse into filesystem reclaim from writeback code\nto avoid the deadlock."
}
],
"affected": [
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"affectedData": [
{
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"programFiles": [
"fs/ext4/ext4.h",
"fs/ext4/inode.c",
"fs/ext4/migrate.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"versions": [
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"versionType": "git",
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},
{
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"programFiles": [
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"fs/ext4/inode.c",
"fs/ext4/migrate.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"versions": [
{
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"status": "affected"
},
{
"version": "0",
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"versionType": "semver",
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},
{
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"versionType": "semver",
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},
{
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},
{
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"status": "unaffected"
},
{
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"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
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}
]
}
]
}
],
"metrics": {
"cvssMetricV31": [
{
"source": "[email protected]",
"type": "Primary",
"cvssData": {
"version": "3.1",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
"baseScore": 5.5,
"baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
"attackVector": "LOCAL",
"attackComplexity": "LOW",
"privilegesRequired": "LOW",
"userInteraction": "NONE",
"scope": "UNCHANGED",
"confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
"integrityImpact": "NONE",
"availabilityImpact": "HIGH"
},
"exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
"impactScore": 3.6
}
]
},
"weaknesses": [
{
"source": "[email protected]",
"type": "Primary",
"description": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "CWE-667"
}
]
}
],
"configurations": [
{
"nodes": [
{
"operator": "OR",
"negate": false,
"cpeMatch": [
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"references": [
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