CVE-2023-54062

ext4: fix invalid free tracking in ext4_xattr_move_to_block()

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: December 24, 2025 at 12:23 PM UTC
Updated: October 15, 2026 at 10:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

Using Linux by Linux?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect Linux - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix invalid free tracking in ext4_xattr_move_to_block() In ext4_xattr_move_to_block(), the value of the extended attribute which we need to move to an external block may be allocated by kvmalloc() if the value is stored in an external inode. So at the end of the function the code tried to check if this was the case by testing entry->e_value_inum. However, at this point, the pointer to the xattr entry is no longer valid, because it was removed from the original location where it had been stored. So we could end up calling kvfree() on a pointer which was not allocated by kvmalloc(); or we could also potentially leak memory by not freeing the buffer when it should be freed. Fix this by storing whether it should be freed in a separate variable.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

1e9d62d252812575ded7c620d8fc67c32ff06c163b28c799a1334adb5a19f42f03abe0d8cbb059384.14.3084.19.2765.10.1735.15.995.4.2356.1.166.2.36.38b6d06b3be7648b3b0f428558293ddf6e2cb94bfa6744e14ce7045ab1a728bde9595f62fbd39f1d2c7851208abffe5ae4deb01cf48763911dc14fc67d2efaf8c870c7067b8d1779773134f3481cd8f68d738789ae9ec47d3458a008788f3cdc862ebf0cbf5cdc6a7339f250d44d4d469ed7a474ac0d6c7a7
Vendor states this is fixed in 1a8822343e67432b658145d2760a524c884da9d4 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 76887be2a96193cd11be818551b8934ecdb3123f (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8beaa3cb293a8f7bacf711cf52201d59859dbc40 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in a18670395e5f28acddeca037c5e4bd2ea961b70a (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in b2fab1807d26acd1c6115b95b5eddd697d84751b (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in b87c7cdf2bed4928b899e1ce91ef0d147017ba45 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in ba04d6af5ac440a6d5a2d35dc1d8e2cb0323550a (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in c5fa4eedddd1c8342ce533cb401c0e693e55b4e3 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in f30f3391d089dc91aef91d08f4b04a6c0df2b067 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4.14.315 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4.19.283 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.180 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.112 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.4.243 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.29 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.2.16 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.3 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.3.3 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.4 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card