CVE-2023-54130

Vulnerability in the

Linux kernel's HFS and HFS+ filesystem drivers. A previous commit (55d1cbbbb29e) replaced a comment with a WARN_ON() for a sanity check, but this can be triggered by a corrupted filesystem image, causing a kernel warning. The fix replaces the WARN_ON() with proper error handling, returning -EIO instead of crashing the system. Additionally, the fix addresses a memory leak introduced by an earlier fix for a similar syzbot report and adds a check for a case that was previously unhandled [1][2][3].

Exploitation

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by mounting a specially crafted HFS or HFS+ filesystem image. No special privileges are required beyond the ability to mount a filesystem (e.g., via a USB drive or network filesystem). The attack surface is local, requiring the attacker to have access to the system to mount the malicious image. The vulnerability is triggered during the mount process when the kernel parses the corrupted filesystem structures [1][2].

Impact

Successful exploitation causes a kernel WARN_ON() splat, which can lead to a denial of service (system crash or hang) or potentially be used to bypass security mechanisms. The warning itself does not directly allow arbitrary code execution, but it can be used to disrupt system availability. The fix prevents this by handling the error gracefully [1][2][3].

Mitigation

The vulnerability is fixed in the Linux kernel by commit 82725be426bce0a425cc5e26fbad61ffd29cff03, 45917be9f0af339a45b4619f31c902d37b8aed59, and da23752d9660ba7a8ca6c5768fd8776f67f59ee7. Users should update to a kernel version containing these commits. No workaround is available other than avoiding mounting untrusted HFS/HFS+ images [1][2][3].