CVE-2023-53339

EPSS 0.0%
  • Published: 2025-09-17T15:15:37.030

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

btrfs: fix BUG_ON condition in btrfs_cancel_balance

Pausing and canceling balance can race to interrupt balance lead to BUG_ON
panic in btrfs_cancel_balance. The BUG_ON condition in btrfs_cancel_balance
does not take this race scenario into account.

However, the race condition has no other side effects. We can fix that.

Reproducing it with panic trace like this:

kernel BUG at fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4618!
RIP: 0010:btrfs_cancel_balance+0x5cf/0x6a0
Call Trace:

? do_nanosleep+0x60/0x120
? hrtimer_nanosleep+0xb7/0x1a0
? sched_core_clone_cookie+0x70/0x70
btrfs_ioctl_balance_ctl+0x55/0x70
btrfs_ioctl+0xa46/0xd20
__x64_sys_ioctl+0x7d/0xa0
do_syscall_64+0x38/0x80
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

Race scenario as follows:
> mutex_unlock(&fs_info->balance_mutex);
> ——————–
> …….issue pause and cancel req in another thread
> ——————–
> ret = __btrfs_balance(fs_info);
>
> mutex_lock(&fs_info->balance_mutex);
> if (ret == -ECANCELED && atomic_read(&fs_info->balance_pause_req)) {
> btrfs_info(fs_info, “balance: paused”);
> btrfs_exclop_balance(fs_info, BTRFS_EXCLOP_BALANCE_PAUSED);
> }

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

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How to fix CVE-2023-53339

CVE-2023-53339 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix BUG_ON condition in btrfs_cancel_balance Pausing and canceling balance can race to interrupt balance lead to BUG_ON panic in btrfs_cancel_balance. The BUG_ON condition in btrfs_cancel_balance does not take this race scenario into account. However, the race condition has no other side effects. We can […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Sep 17, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Nov 12, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.