CVE-2023-53348 | btrfs: fix deadlock when aborting transaction during relocation with scrub

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix deadlock when aborting transaction during relocation with scrub Before relocating a block group we pause scrub, then do the relocation and then unpause scrub. The relocation process requires starting and committing a transaction, and if we have a failure in the critical section of the transaction commit path (transaction state >= TRANS_STATE_COMMIT_START), we will deadlock if there is a paused scrub. That results in stack traces like the following: [42.479] BTRFS info (device sdc): relocating block group 53876686848 flags metadata|raid6 [42.936] BTRFS warning (device sdc): Skipping commit of aborted transaction. [42.936] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [42.936] BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -28) [42.936] WARNING: CPU: 11 PID: 346822 at fs/btrfs/transaction.c:1977 btrfs_commit_transaction+0xcc8/0xeb0 [btrfs] [42.936] Modules linked in: dm_flakey dm_mod loop btrfs (...) [42.936] CPU: 11 PID: 346822 Comm: btrfs Tainted: G W 6.3.0-rc2-btrfs-next-127+ #1 [42.936] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.14.0-0-g155821a1990b-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [42.936] RIP: 0010:btrfs_commit_transaction+0xcc8/0xeb0 [btrfs] [42.936] Code: ff ff 45 8b (...) [42.936] RSP: 0018:ffffb58649633b48 EFLAGS: 00010282 [42.936] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8be6ef4d5bd8 RCX: 0000000000000000 [42.936] RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: ffffffffb35e7782 RDI: 00000000ffffffff [42.936] RBP: ffff8be6ef4d5c98 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffb586496339e8 [42.936] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff8be6d38c7c00 [42.936] R13: 00000000ffffffe4 R14: ffff8be6c268c000 R15: ffff8be6ef4d5cf0 [42.936] FS: 00007f381a82b340(0000) GS:ffff8beddfcc0000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [42.936] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [42.936] CR2: 00007f1e35fb7638 CR3: 0000000117680006 CR4: 0000000000370ee0 [42.936] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [42.936] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [42.936] Call Trace: [42.936] <TASK> [42.936] ? start_transaction+0xcb/0x610 [btrfs] [42.936] prepare_to_relocate+0x111/0x1a0 [btrfs] [42.936] relocate_block_group+0x57/0x5d0 [btrfs] [42.936] ? btrfs_wait_nocow_writers+0x25/0xb0 [btrfs] [42.936] btrfs_relocate_block_group+0x248/0x3c0 [btrfs] [42.936] ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10 [42.936] btrfs_relocate_chunk+0x3b/0x150 [btrfs] [42.936] btrfs_balance+0x8ff/0x11d0 [btrfs] [42.936] ? __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x14a/0x410 [42.936] btrfs_ioctl+0x2334/0x32c0 [btrfs] [42.937] ? mod_objcg_state+0xd2/0x360 [42.937] ? refill_obj_stock+0xb0/0x160 [42.937] ? seq_release+0x25/0x30 [42.937] ? __rseq_handle_notify_resume+0x3b5/0x4b0 [42.937] ? percpu_counter_add_batch+0x2e/0xa0 [42.937] ? __x64_sys_ioctl+0x88/0xc0 [42.937] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x88/0xc0 [42.937] do_syscall_64+0x38/0x90 [42.937] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc [42.937] RIP: 0033:0x7f381a6ffe9b [42.937] Code: 00 48 89 44 24 (...) [42.937] RSP: 002b:00007ffd45ecf060 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 [42.937] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000001 RCX: 00007f381a6ffe9b [42.937] RDX: 00007ffd45ecf150 RSI: 00000000c4009420 RDI: 0000000000000003 [42.937] RBP: 0000000000000003 R08: 0000000000000013 R09: 0000000000000000 [42.937] R10: 00007f381a60c878 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007ffd45ed0423 [42.937] R13: 00007ffd45ecf150 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 00007ffd45ecf148 [42.937] </TASK> [42.937] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [42.937] BTRFS: error (device sdc: state A) in cleanup_transaction:1977: errno=-28 No space left [59.196] INFO: task btrfs:346772 blocked for more than 120 seconds. [59.196] Tainted: G W 6.3.0-rc2-btrfs-next-127+ #1 [59.196] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_ ---truncated---

Published: 2025-09-17 Last update: 2026-01-14 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53348 is rated Low Risk (22.9/100): CVSS Medium 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.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-53348

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 2025-09-18 0.02%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53348

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]
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 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53348

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53348

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-53348 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-53348
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53348
suse medium CVE-2023-53348 severity moderate: SUSE including 272 source package names (amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20210304-hvm-ssd-x86_64, amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20220127-hvm-ssd-x86_64, …), 472 product×package rows across 50 product lines (Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-BYOS, Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-HPC-BYOS, … (50 product lines)): Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 164, Fixed 77. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53348/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-53348 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 88, needed 74, not-affected 74. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53348

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53348

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.3, < 6.1.23 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.2.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53348

cvelogic Threat Intelligence