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CVE Record

CVE-2023-54153: ext4: turn quotas off if mount failed after enabling quotas

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: turn quotas off if mount failed after enabling quotas Yi found during a review of the patch "ext4: don't BUG on inconsistent journal feature" that when ext4_mark_recovery_complete() returns an error value, the error handling path does not turn off the enabled quotas, which triggers the following kmemleak: ================================================================ unreferenced object 0xffff8cf68678e7c0 (size 64): comm "mount", pid 746, jiffies 4294871231 (age 11.540s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 90 ef 82 f6 8c ff ff 00 00 00 00 41 01 00 00 ............A... c7 00 00 00 bd 00 00 00 0a 00 00 00 48 00 00 00 ............H... backtrace: [<00000000c561ef24>] __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x4d4/0x880 [<00000000d4e621d7>] kmalloc_trace+0x39/0x140 [<00000000837eee74>] v2_read_file_info+0x18a/0x3a0 [<0000000088f6c877>] dquot_load_quota_sb+0x2ed/0x770 [<00000000340a4782>] dquot_load_quota_inode+0xc6/0x1c0 [<0000000089a18bd5>] ext4_enable_quotas+0x17e/0x3a0 [ext4] [<000000003a0268fa>] __ext4_fill_super+0x3448/0x3910 [ext4] [<00000000b0f2a8a8>] ext4_fill_super+0x13d/0x340 [ext4] [<000000004a9489c4>] get_tree_bdev+0x1dc/0x370 [<000000006e723bf1>] ext4_get_tree+0x1d/0x30 [ext4] [<00000000c7cb663d>] vfs_get_tree+0x31/0x160 [<00000000320e1bed>] do_new_mount+0x1d5/0x480 [<00000000c074654c>] path_mount+0x22e/0xbe0 [<0000000003e97a8e>] do_mount+0x95/0xc0 [<000000002f3d3736>] __x64_sys_mount+0xc4/0x160 [<0000000027d2140c>] do_syscall_64+0x3f/0x90 ================================================================ To solve this problem, we add a "failed_mount10" tag, and call ext4_quota_off_umount() in this tag to release the enabled qoutas.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysislow

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This Linux kernel ext4 issue is a cleanup bug during a failed mount. If quotas are enabled and the mount later fails, quota memory may remain allocated. The sources describe a memory leak, not data theft or privilege escalation.

Executive priority

Treat this as routine kernel hygiene unless your environment mounts untrusted ext4 media or images. Prioritize patching through normal maintenance windows and reduce unnecessary mount privileges.

Technical view

In ext4 mount handling, an error from ext4_mark_recovery_complete() after quota enablement skipped quota shutdown. The fix adds a failed_mount10 path that calls ext4_quota_off_umount() to release enabled quotas. Evidence is limited to kernel commit and CVE metadata.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most relevant to Linux systems that mount ext4 filesystems with quotas, especially hosts or tools processing untrusted or damaged ext4 images. Ordinary application servers are only exposed if local mount operations hit this error path.

Exploitation context

The bundle reports no KEV listing and provides no evidence of active exploitation. The described impact is a kernel memory leak triggered during a failed ext4 mount after quotas are enabled.

Researcher notes

The source bundle does not provide CVSS, CWE, a reproducer, or broader impact analysis. The concrete defect is a missed cleanup path causing quota allocations to remain after a mount failure.

Mitigation direction

  • Update to a vendor kernel containing the referenced stable ext4 fixes.
  • Restrict mounting of untrusted ext4 filesystems on production hosts.
  • Review vendor advisories before treating any specific package as fixed.
  • Apply normal kernel reboot procedures after patch installation.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernel versions on systems that mount ext4 filesystems.
  • Confirm installed kernels include the referenced stable fix commits or vendor backports.
  • Check whether ext4 quotas are enabled on relevant filesystems.
  • Review kernel logs for repeated failed ext4 mounts or quota-related warnings.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
6

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-2023-54153 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
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.

0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
0ADP providers
5Source links

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.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinux11215630aada28307ba555a43138db6ac54fa825, 11215630aada28307ba555a43138db6ac54fa825, 11215630aada28307ba555a43138db6ac54fa825, 11215630aada28307ba555a43138db6ac54fa825, 60e2824ab30a19c7aaf5a3932bc155d18b2cd816, a6d49257cbe53c7bca1a0353a6443f53cbed9cc7, 2e7312ddaf629eecf4702b662da477a3bc39c31a, d558851e5ff443b020245b7a1a455c55accf740b, 4.14.196, 4.19.143, 5.4.62, 5.8.6unaffected
LinuxLinux5.9, 0, 5.15.121, 6.1.40, 6.4.5, 6.5affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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