CVE-2023-54119
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided

Inotify Use-After-Free in Linux Kernel Causes Event Corruption

Publication date: 2025-12-24

Last updated on: 2025-12-24

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: inotify: Avoid reporting event with invalid wd When inotify_freeing_mark() races with inotify_handle_inode_event() it can happen that inotify_handle_inode_event() sees that i_mark->wd got already reset to -1 and reports this value to userspace which can confuse the inotify listener. Avoid the problem by validating that wd is sensible (and pretend the mark got removed before the event got generated otherwise).

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Meta Information

Published
2025-12-24
Last Modified
2025-12-24
Generated
2026-07-06
AI Q&A
2025-12-24
EPSS Evaluated
2026-07-05
NVD
CVE-2023-54119
EUVD
EUVD-2023-60326

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel *

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Exploitability

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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability occurs in the Linux kernel's inotify subsystem. When two functions, inotify_freeing_mark() and inotify_handle_inode_event(), run concurrently, a race condition can cause inotify_handle_inode_event() to report an invalid watch descriptor (wd) value of -1 to userspace. This invalid value can confuse the inotify listener because it indicates an event related to a watch that has already been removed. The fix involves validating the wd to ensure it is sensible before reporting events.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause userspace applications that rely on inotify to receive incorrect or confusing event notifications due to invalid watch descriptor values. This may lead to improper handling of filesystem events, potentially causing application errors or unexpected behavior when monitoring file system changes.

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