CVE-2023-53224
- Published: 2025-09-15T15:15:49.243
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ext4: Fix function prototype mismatch for ext4_feat_ktype
With clang’s kernel control flow integrity (kCFI, CONFIG_CFI_CLANG),
indirect call targets are validated against the expected function
pointer prototype to make sure the call target is valid to help mitigate
ROP attacks. If they are not identical, there is a failure at run time,
which manifests as either a kernel panic or thread getting killed.
ext4_feat_ktype was setting the “release” handler to “kfree”, which
doesn’t have a matching function prototype. Add a simple wrapper
with the correct prototype.
This was found as a result of Clang’s new -Wcast-function-type-strict
flag, which is more sensitive than the simpler -Wcast-function-type,
which only checks for type width mismatches.
Note that this code is only reached when ext4 is a loadable module and
it is being unloaded:
CFI failure at kobject_put+0xbb/0x1b0 (target: kfree+0x0/0x180; expected type: 0x7c4aa698)
…
RIP: 0010:kobject_put+0xbb/0x1b0
…
Call Trace:
ext4_exit_sysfs+0x14/0x60 [ext4]
cleanup_module+0x67/0xedb [ext4]
Related CVE by CWE
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How to fix CVE-2023-53224
Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: Fix function prototype mismatch for ext4_feat_ktype With clang’s kernel control flow integrity (kCFI, CONFIG_CFI_CLANG), indirect call targets are validated against the expected function pointer prototype to make sure the call target is valid to help mitigate ROP attacks. If they are not identical, there […]
Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public
How to Fix:
- Check if you're running the affected product
- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access
- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)
- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations
Exploit Difficulty Assessment
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