CVE-2023-53503 | ext4: allow ext4_get_group_info() to fail

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: allow ext4_get_group_info() to fail Previously, ext4_get_group_info() would treat an invalid group number as BUG(), since in theory it should never happen. However, if a malicious attaker (or fuzzer) modifies the superblock via the block device while it is the file system is mounted, it is possible for s_first_data_block to get set to a very large number. In that case, when calculating the block group of some block number (such as the starting block of a preallocation region), could result in an underflow and very large block group number. Then the BUG_ON check in ext4_get_group_info() would fire, resutling in a denial of service attack that can be triggered by root or someone with write access to the block device. For a quality of implementation perspective, it's best that even if the system administrator does something that they shouldn't, that it will not trigger a BUG. So instead of BUG'ing, ext4_get_group_info() will call ext4_error and return NULL. We also add fallback code in all of the callers of ext4_get_group_info() that it might NULL. Also, since ext4_get_group_info() was already borderline to be an inline function, un-inline it. The results in a next reduction of the compiled text size of ext4 by roughly 2k.

Published: 2025-10-01 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53503 is rated Low Risk (23.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.14%). 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-2023-53503

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 0.02% 0.14% +0.12%
2 2025-10-01 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53503

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-2023-53503

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53503

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-53503 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-2023-53503
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53503
suse medium CVE-2023-53503 severity moderate: SUSE including 25 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 113 product×package rows across 25 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5, … (25 product lines)): Known Not Affected 94, Will Not Fix 19. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53503/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-53503 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 162, released 116, not-affected 76, needed 42, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53503

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53503

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 3.11, < 5.10.181 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.113 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.30 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.3.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.4:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53503

cvelogic Threat Intelligence