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CVE Record

CVE-2023-53243: btrfs: add handling for RAID1C23/DUP to btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: add handling for RAID1C23/DUP to btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile Callers of `btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile` expect it to return exactly one allocation profile flag, and failing to do so may ultimately result in a WARN_ON and remount-ro when allocating new blocks, like the below transaction abort on 6.1. `btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile` has two ways of determining the profile, first it checks if a conversion balance is currently running and uses the profile we're converting to. If no balance is currently running, it returns the max-redundancy profile which at least one block in the selected block group has. This works by simply checking each known allocation profile bit in redundancy order. However, `btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile` has not been updated as new flags have been added - first with the `DUP` profile and later with the RAID1C34 profiles. Because of the way it checks, if we have blocks with different profiles and at least one is known, that profile will be selected. However, if none are known we may return a flag set with multiple allocation profiles set. This is currently only possible when a balance from one of the three unhandled profiles to another of the unhandled profiles is canceled after allocating at least one block using the new profile. In that case, a transaction abort like the below will occur and the filesystem will need to be mounted with -o skip_balance to get it mounted rw again (but the balance cannot be resumed without a similar abort). [770.648] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [770.648] BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -22) [770.648] WARNING: CPU: 43 PID: 1159593 at fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:4122 find_free_extent+0x1d94/0x1e00 [btrfs] [770.648] CPU: 43 PID: 1159593 Comm: btrfs Tainted: G W 6.1.0-0.deb11.7-powerpc64le #1 Debian 6.1.20-2~bpo11+1a~test [770.648] Hardware name: T2P9D01 REV 1.00 POWER9 0x4e1202 opal:skiboot-bc106a0 PowerNV [770.648] NIP: c00800000f6784fc LR: c00800000f6784f8 CTR: c000000000d746c0 [770.648] REGS: c000200089afe9a0 TRAP: 0700 Tainted: G W (6.1.0-0.deb11.7-powerpc64le Debian 6.1.20-2~bpo11+1a~test) [770.648] MSR: 9000000002029033 <SF,HV,VEC,EE,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 28848282 XER: 20040000 [770.648] CFAR: c000000000135110 IRQMASK: 0 GPR00: c00800000f6784f8 c000200089afec40 c00800000f7ea800 0000000000000026 GPR04: 00000001004820c2 c000200089afea00 c000200089afe9f8 0000000000000027 GPR08: c000200ffbfe7f98 c000000002127f90 ffffffffffffffd8 0000000026d6a6e8 GPR12: 0000000028848282 c000200fff7f3800 5deadbeef0000122 c00000002269d000 GPR16: c0002008c7797c40 c000200089afef17 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 GPR20: 0000000000000000 0000000000000001 c000200008bc5a98 0000000000000001 GPR24: 0000000000000000 c0000003c73088d0 c000200089afef17 c000000016d3a800 GPR28: c0000003c7308800 c00000002269d000 ffffffffffffffea 0000000000000001 [770.648] NIP [c00800000f6784fc] find_free_extent+0x1d94/0x1e00 [btrfs] [770.648] LR [c00800000f6784f8] find_free_extent+0x1d90/0x1e00 [btrfs] [770.648] Call Trace: [770.648] [c000200089afec40] [c00800000f6784f8] find_free_extent+0x1d90/0x1e00 [btrfs] (unreliable) [770.648] [c000200089afed30] [c00800000f681398] btrfs_reserve_extent+0x1a0/0x2f0 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089afeea0] [c00800000f681bf0] btrfs_alloc_tree_block+0x108/0x670 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089afeff0] [c00800000f66bd68] __btrfs_cow_block+0x170/0x850 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089aff100] [c00800000f66c58c] btrfs_cow_block+0x144/0x288 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089aff1b0] [c00800000f67113c] btrfs_search_slot+0x6b4/0xcb0 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089aff2a0] [c00800000f679f60] lookup_inline_extent_backref+0x128/0x7c0 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089aff3b0] [c00800000f67b338] lookup_extent_backref+0x70/0x190 [btrfs] [770.648] [c000200089aff470] [c00800000f67b54c] __btrfs_free_extent+0xf4/0x1490 [btrfs] [770.648] [ ---truncated---

MediumCVSS 5.5Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2023-53243 is a Linux kernel Btrfs availability bug. Under a narrow balance-conversion scenario, the filesystem can abort a transaction and remount read-only, interrupting writes until administrators recover it. It is not described as data theft or remote compromise.

Executive priority

Prioritize patching where Btrfs supports critical workloads or storage maintenance uses balance conversions. For typical non-Btrfs Linux servers, urgency is lower, but kernel updates should still follow normal maintenance windows.

Technical view

btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile could return multiple allocation profile flags instead of one when handling newer DUP or RAID1C3/RAID1C4 profiles. If a balance conversion between unhandled profiles is canceled after allocating new-profile blocks, later allocation can hit WARN_ON, abort the transaction, and remount read-only.

Likely exposure

Exposure is mainly Linux systems using Btrfs with DUP or RAID1C3/RAID1C4 allocation profiles and balance conversions. Systems not using Btrfs, not using those profiles, or not performing the described canceled conversion appear unlikely to be affected based on the supplied record.

Exploitation context

The CVE has CVSS 5.5 with local access and low privileges required. The supplied bundle says it is not in KEV and provides no evidence of active exploitation. The demonstrated impact is availability loss through transaction abort and read-only remount.

Researcher notes

The trigger described is specific: canceled balance conversion from one unhandled profile to another after new-profile block allocation. The source bundle does not provide CWE mapping, exploit sightings, or distribution package fix levels, so validation should rely on local filesystem state and vendor kernels.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply vendor Linux kernel updates containing the referenced stable Btrfs fixes.
  • Check distribution advisories rather than assuming upstream commit availability.
  • Avoid canceling Btrfs balance conversions between affected profiles until patched.
  • Use documented Btrfs recovery guidance if a filesystem remounts read-only.
  • Back up critical Btrfs volumes before balance or profile-conversion maintenance.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux hosts running affected kernel versions from the CVE record.
  • Identify systems using Btrfs filesystems and relevant allocation profiles.
  • Review operational history for canceled Btrfs balance conversions.
  • Check kernel logs for Btrfs transaction aborts and read-only remounts.
  • Confirm installed kernels include the referenced stable fixes or vendor backports.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
7

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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CVE-2023-53243 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.5 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
1ADP providers
6Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: partial

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
5.5CVSS 3.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H1.83.6CISA-ADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

5.5Medium
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2023-53243Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
cvssV3_1other:ssvc

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinux47e6f7423b9196ad6832d26cae52b7015f81ee7f, 47e6f7423b9196ad6832d26cae52b7015f81ee7f, 47e6f7423b9196ad6832d26cae52b7015f81ee7f, 47e6f7423b9196ad6832d26cae52b7015f81ee7f, 47e6f7423b9196ad6832d26cae52b7015f81ee7funaffected
LinuxLinux5.5, 0, 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 6.1.39, 6.4.4, 6.5affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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