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CVE Record

CVE-2023-53306: fsdax: force clear dirty mark if CoW

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fsdax: force clear dirty mark if CoW XFS allows CoW on non-shared extents to combat fragmentation[1]. The old non-shared extent could be mwrited before, its dax entry is marked dirty. This results in a WARNing: [ 28.512349] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 28.512622] WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 5255 at fs/dax.c:390 dax_insert_entry+0x342/0x390 [ 28.513050] Modules linked in: rpcsec_gss_krb5 auth_rpcgss nfsv4 nfs lockd grace fscache netfs nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject nft_ct nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 ip_set nf_tables [ 28.515462] CPU: 2 PID: 5255 Comm: fsstress Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.3.0-rc1-00001-g85e1481e19c1-dirty #117 [ 28.515902] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS Arch Linux 1.16.1-1-1 04/01/2014 [ 28.516307] RIP: 0010:dax_insert_entry+0x342/0x390 [ 28.516536] Code: 30 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f c3 cc cc cc cc 48 8b 45 20 48 83 c0 01 e9 e2 fe ff ff 48 8b 45 20 48 83 c0 01 e9 cd fe ff ff <0f> 0b e9 53 ff ff ff 48 8b 7c 24 08 31 f6 e8 1b 61 a1 00 eb 8c 48 [ 28.517417] RSP: 0000:ffffc9000845fb18 EFLAGS: 00010086 [ 28.517721] RAX: 0000000000000053 RBX: 0000000000000155 RCX: 000000000018824b [ 28.518113] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffffffff827525a6 RDI: 00000000ffffffff [ 28.518515] RBP: ffffea00062092c0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffc9000845f9c8 [ 28.518905] R10: 0000000000000003 R11: ffffffff82ddb7e8 R12: 0000000000000155 [ 28.519301] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 000000000018824b R15: ffff88810cfa76b8 [ 28.519703] FS: 00007f14a0c94740(0000) GS:ffff88817bd00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 28.520148] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 28.520472] CR2: 00007f14a0c8d000 CR3: 000000010321c004 CR4: 0000000000770ee0 [ 28.520863] PKRU: 55555554 [ 28.521043] Call Trace: [ 28.521219] <TASK> [ 28.521368] dax_fault_iter+0x196/0x390 [ 28.521595] dax_iomap_pte_fault+0x19b/0x3d0 [ 28.521852] __xfs_filemap_fault+0x234/0x2b0 [ 28.522116] __do_fault+0x30/0x130 [ 28.522334] do_fault+0x193/0x340 [ 28.522586] __handle_mm_fault+0x2d3/0x690 [ 28.522975] handle_mm_fault+0xe6/0x2c0 [ 28.523259] do_user_addr_fault+0x1bc/0x6f0 [ 28.523521] exc_page_fault+0x60/0x140 [ 28.523763] asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30 [ 28.524001] RIP: 0033:0x7f14a0b589ca [ 28.524225] Code: c5 fe 7f 07 c5 fe 7f 47 20 c5 fe 7f 47 40 c5 fe 7f 47 60 c5 f8 77 c3 66 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 40 0f b6 c6 48 89 d1 48 89 fa <f3> aa 48 89 d0 c5 f8 77 c3 66 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 66 90 [ 28.525198] RSP: 002b:00007fff1dea1c98 EFLAGS: 00010202 [ 28.525505] RAX: 000000000000001e RBX: 000000000014a000 RCX: 0000000000006046 [ 28.525895] RDX: 00007f14a0c82000 RSI: 000000000000001e RDI: 00007f14a0c8d000 [ 28.526290] RBP: 000000000000006f R08: 0000000000000004 R09: 000000000014a000 [ 28.526681] R10: 0000000000000008 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 028f5c28f5c28f5c [ 28.527067] R13: 8f5c28f5c28f5c29 R14: 0000000000011046 R15: 00007f14a0c946c0 [ 28.527449] </TASK> [ 28.527600] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- To be able to delete this entry, clear its dirty mark before invalidate_inode_pages2_range(). [1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-xfs/20230321151339.GA11376@frogsfrogsfrogs/

MediumCVSS 5.5Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This Linux kernel issue can crash or disrupt affected systems under a local filesystem workload. It is not described as remotely exploitable. Business urgency is mainly for servers using XFS with DAX, especially where local users or workloads can exercise file writes heavily.

Executive priority

Treat as a targeted availability-risk patch, not an emergency internet-facing exposure. Escalate priority for production Linux systems using XFS DAX where downtime would be material.

Technical view

The bug is in fsdax handling for XFS copy-on-write on non-shared extents. A previously written DAX entry may remain marked dirty, leading to a kernel WARNING in dax_insert_entry and an availability impact. The CVSS vector is local, low-complexity, low-privilege, no user interaction.

Likely exposure

Exposure appears limited to Linux kernels in the affected 6.2-era ranges using XFS with DAX behavior. Systems without DAX/XFS use are less likely to be reachable through this specific path, based on the provided description.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show active exploitation, and KEV is false. The demonstrated context is local filesystem stress causing a kernel warning path, not a public remote exploit or credential-compromise scenario.

Researcher notes

Evidence is narrow but coherent: the vulnerability record describes a stale dirty mark during fsdax CoW invalidation and links two stable kernel fixes. No CWE, exploit details, or distribution-specific fixed package versions are provided.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply vendor kernel updates that include the referenced stable fixes.
  • Prioritize hosts using XFS with DAX or persistent memory.
  • Check distribution advisories before assuming upstream version equivalence.
  • Limit untrusted local workload access on exposed DAX/XFS hosts until patched.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory kernel versions against the affected ranges in the CVE record.
  • Identify systems mounting XFS filesystems with DAX enabled.
  • Review kernel logs for dax_insert_entry warnings during filesystem workloads.
  • Confirm patched kernels include the linked stable commits or vendor backports.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
4

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

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

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CVE-2023-53306 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
3Source 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-2023-53306Attack 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
LinuxLinuxf80e1668888f34c0764822e74953c997daf2ccdb, f80e1668888f34c0764822e74953c997daf2ccdbunaffected
LinuxLinux6.2, 0, 6.2.11, 6.3affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.