CVE-2023-53348

  • Published: 2025-09-17T15:15:38.727

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]
[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]
[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—

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How to fix CVE-2023-53348

CVE-2023-53348 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: 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 […]

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.