CVE-2023-53101 | ext4: zero i_disksize when initializing the bootloader inode

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: zero i_disksize when initializing the bootloader inode If the boot loader inode has never been used before, the EXT4_IOC_SWAP_BOOT inode will initialize it, including setting the i_size to 0. However, if the "never before used" boot loader has a non-zero i_size, then i_disksize will be non-zero, and the inconsistency between i_size and i_disksize can trigger a kernel warning: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 2580 at fs/ext4/file.c:319 CPU: 0 PID: 2580 Comm: bb Not tainted 6.3.0-rc1-00004-g703695902cfa RIP: 0010:ext4_file_write_iter+0xbc7/0xd10 Call Trace: vfs_write+0x3b1/0x5c0 ksys_write+0x77/0x160 __x64_sys_write+0x22/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x39/0x80 Reproducer: 1. create corrupted image and mount it: mke2fs -t ext4 /tmp/foo.img 200 debugfs -wR "sif <5> size 25700" /tmp/foo.img mount -t ext4 /tmp/foo.img /mnt cd /mnt echo 123 > file 2. Run the reproducer program: posix_memalign(&buf, 1024, 1024) fd = open("file", O_RDWR | O_DIRECT); ioctl(fd, EXT4_IOC_SWAP_BOOT); write(fd, buf, 1024); Fix this by setting i_disksize as well as i_size to zero when initiaizing the boot loader inode.

Published: 2025-05-02 Last update: 2025-11-10 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53101 is rated Low Risk (24.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.16%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-53101

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.01% 0.16% +0.15%
2 2026-06-10 0.07% 0.01% -0.05%
3 2026-02-26 0.07%

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53101

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53101

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53101

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-53101 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-53101
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53101
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53101/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-53101 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, ignored 150, released 142, not-affected 93, needed 20, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53101

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53101

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel < 4.14.310 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.15, < 4.19.278 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.237 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.175 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.103 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.20 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.2.7 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53101

cvelogic Threat Intelligence