In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nilfs2: fix use-after-free of nilfs_root in dirtying inodes via iput During unmount process of nilfs2, nothing holds nilfs_root structure after nilfs2 detaches its writer in nilfs_detach_log_writer(). Previously, nilfs_evict_inode() could cause use-after-free read for nilfs_root if inodes are left in "garbage_list" and released by nilfs_dispose_list at the end of nilfs_detach_log_writer(), and this bug was fixed by commit 9b5a04ac3ad9 ("nilfs2: fix use-after-free bug of nilfs_root in nilfs_evict_inode()"). However, it turned out that there is another possibility of UAF in the call path where mark_inode_dirty_sync() is called from iput(): nilfs_detach_log_writer() nilfs_dispose_list() iput() mark_inode_dirty_sync() __mark_inode_dirty() nilfs_dirty_inode() __nilfs_mark_inode_dirty() nilfs_load_inode_block() --> causes UAF of nilfs_root struct This can happen after commit 0ae45f63d4ef ("vfs: add support for a lazytime mount option"), which changed iput() to call mark_inode_dirty_sync() on its final reference if i_state has I_DIRTY_TIME flag and i_nlink is non-zero. This issue appears after commit 28a65b49eb53 ("nilfs2: do not write dirty data after degenerating to read-only") when using the syzbot reproducer, but the issue has potentially existed before. Fix this issue by adding a "purging flag" to the nilfs structure, setting that flag while disposing the "garbage_list" and checking it in __nilfs_mark_inode_dirty(). Unlike commit 9b5a04ac3ad9 ("nilfs2: fix use-after-free bug of nilfs_root in nilfs_evict_inode()"), this patch does not rely on ns_writer to determine whether to skip operations, so as not to break recovery on mount. The nilfs_salvage_orphan_logs routine dirties the buffer of salvaged data before attaching the log writer, so changing __nilfs_mark_inode_dirty() to skip the operation when ns_writer is NULL will cause recovery write to fail. The purpose of using the cleanup-only flag is to allow for narrowing of such conditions.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53311 is rated Low Risk (33/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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.
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 | 2025-09-17 | — | 0.02% | — |
Full EPSS history (1 record total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.8 | 3.1 | HIGH |
|
1.8 | 5.9 | [email protected] |
| 7.8 | 3.1 | HIGH |
|
1.8 | 5.9 | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
debian
|
not yet assigned | CVE-2023-53311 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-2023-53311 |
redhat
|
— | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53311 |
suse
|
medium | — | https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53311/ |
ubuntu
|
medium | CVE-2023-53311 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 161, released 138, not-affected 78, needed 19, needs-triage 1. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53311 |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 4.0, < 4.14.323 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 4.15, < 4.19.292 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 4.20, < 5.4.254 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 5.5, < 5.10.191 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 5.11, < 5.15.127 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 5.16, < 6.1.46 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 6.2, < 6.4.11 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | 6.5 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | 6.5 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | 6.5 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | 6.5 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | 6.5 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* |