CVE-2023-54125
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
fs/ntfs3: Return error for inconsistent extended attributes
ntfs_read_ea is called when we want to read extended attributes. There are some sanity checks for the validity of the EAs. However, it fails to return a proper error code for the inconsistent attributes, which might lead to unpredicted memory accesses after return.
[ 138.916927] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ntfs_set_ea+0x453/0xbf0 [ 138.923876] Write of size 4 at addr ffff88800205cfac by task poc/199 [ 138.931132] [ 138.933016] CPU: 0 PID: 199 Comm: poc Not tainted 6.2.0-rc1+ #4 [ 138.938070] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552ce722-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [ 138.947327] Call Trace: [ 138.949557] [ 138.951539] dump_stack_lvl+0x4d/0x67 [ 138.956834] print_report+0x16f/0x4a6 [ 138.960798] ? ntfs_set_ea+0x453/0xbf0 [ 138.964437] ? kasan_complete_mode_report_info+0x7d/0x200 [ 138.969793] ? ntfs_set_ea+0x453/0xbf0 [ 138.973523] kasan_report+0xb8/0x140 [ 138.976740] ? ntfs_set_ea+0x453/0xbf0 [ 138.980578] __asan_store4+0x76/0xa0 [ 138.984669] ntfs_set_ea+0x453/0xbf0 [ 138.988115] ? __pfx_ntfs_set_ea+0x10/0x10 [ 138.993390] ? kernel_text_address+0xd3/0xe0 [ 138.998270] ? __kernel_text_address+0x16/0x50 [ 139.002121] ? unwind_get_return_address+0x3e/0x60 [ 139.005659] ? __pfx_stack_trace_consume_entry+0x10/0x10 [ 139.010177] ? arch_stack_walk+0xa2/0x100 [ 139.013657] ? filter_irq_stacks+0x27/0x80 [ 139.017018] ntfs_setxattr+0x405/0x440 [ 139.022151] ? __pfx_ntfs_setxattr+0x10/0x10 [ 139.026569] ? kvmalloc_node+0x2d/0x120 [ 139.030329] ? kasan_save_stack+0x41/0x60 [ 139.033883] ? kasan_save_stack+0x2a/0x60 [ 139.037338] ? kasan_set_track+0x29/0x40 [ 139.040163] ? kasan_save_alloc_info+0x1f/0x30 [ 139.043588] ? __kasan_kmalloc+0x8b/0xa0 [ 139.047255] ? __kmalloc_node+0x68/0x150 [ 139.051264] ? kvmalloc_node+0x2d/0x120 [ 139.055301] ? vmemdup_user+0x2b/0xa0 [ 139.058584] __vfs_setxattr+0x121/0x170 [ 139.062617] ? __pfx___vfs_setxattr+0x10/0x10 [ 139.066282] __vfs_setxattr_noperm+0x97/0x300 [ 139.070061] __vfs_setxattr_locked+0x145/0x170 [ 139.073580] vfs_setxattr+0x137/0x2a0 [ 139.076641] ? __pfx_vfs_setxattr+0x10/0x10 [ 139.080223] ? __kasan_check_write+0x18/0x20 [ 139.084234] do_setxattr+0xce/0x150 [ 139.087768] setxattr+0x126/0x140 [ 139.091250] ? __pfx_setxattr+0x10/0x10 [ 139.094948] ? __virt_addr_valid+0xcb/0x140 [ 139.097838] ? __call_rcu_common.constprop.0+0x1c7/0x330 [ 139.102688] ? debug_smp_processor_id+0x1b/0x30 [ 139.105985] ? kasan_quarantine_put+0x5b/0x190 [ 139.109980] ? putname+0x84/0xa0 [ 139.113886] ? __kasan_slab_free+0x11e/0x1b0 [ 139.117961] ? putname+0x84/0xa0 [ 139.121316] ? preempt_count_sub+0x1c/0xd0 [ 139.124427] ? __mnt_want_write+0xae/0x100 [ 139.127836] ? mnt_want_write+0x8f/0x150 [ 139.130954] path_setxattr+0x164/0x180 [ 139.133998] ? __pfx_path_setxattr+0x10/0x10 [ 139.137853] ? __pfx_ksys_pwrite64+0x10/0x10 [ 139.141299] ? debug_smp_processor_id+0x1b/0x30 [ 139.145714] ? fpregs_assert_state_consistent+0x6b/0x80 [ 139.150796] __x64_sys_setxattr+0x71/0x90 [ 139.155407] do_syscall_64+0x3f/0x90 [ 139.159035] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc [ 139.163843] RIP: 0033:0x7f108cae4469 [ 139.166481] Code: 00 f3 c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 40 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 088 [ 139.183764] RSP: 002b:00007fff87588388 EFLAGS: 00000286 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000bc [ 139.190657] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f108cae4469 [ 139.196586] RDX: 00007fff875883b0 RSI: 00007fff875883d1 RDI: 00007fff875883b6 [ 139.201716] RBP: 00007fff8758c530 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 00007fff8758c618 [ 139.207940] R10: 0000000000000006 R11: 0000000000000286 R12: 00000000004004c0 [ 139.214007] R13: 00007fff8758c610 R14: 0000000000000000 R15 ---truncated---
AI Insight
LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.
Invalid extended attributes in NTFS3 driver cause use-after-free, leading to memory corruption and potential privilege escalation.
In the Linux kernel's NTFS3 filesystem driver, the function ntfs_read_ea is responsible for reading extended attributes (EAs) from disk. Although it performs sanity checks on the EA data, it fails to return an appropriate error code when the attributes are inconsistent or invalid. This omission allows corrupted or maliciously crafted EA structures to be processed further, bypassing integrity checks.
An attacker with the ability to mount a specially crafted NTFS filesystem image can trigger this vulnerability. By providing a malicious image that contains inconsistent extended attributes, the attacker can cause the ntfs_set_ea function to access memory that has already been freed. The vulnerability is exploitable through the setxattr syscall, which calls ntfs_setxattr and subsequently ntfs_set_ea.
The result is a use-after-free condition, as demonstrated by the KASAN report in the vulnerability description: a write to freed memory occurs in ntfs_set_ea. This can lead to memory corruption, system crashes, or potentially privilege escalation if an attacker can control the freed memory layout. The issue is classified with a high CVSS score due to the risk of arbitrary code execution.
A fix has been committed to the Linux kernel stable tree [1]. The patch ensures that ntfs_read_ea returns an error (e.g., -EINVAL or -EFSCORRUPTED) when it detects inconsistent extended attributes, preventing the use-after-free from occurring. Users should apply the latest kernel updates to mitigate this vulnerability.
AI Insight generated on May 19, 2026. Synthesized from this CVE's description and the cited reference URLs; citations are validated against the source bundle.
Affected products
1Patches
21474098b590ac9db0ff04649Vulnerability mechanics
Generated on May 9, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.
References
2News mentions
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