CVE-2023-54185
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided
Improper Error Handling in Linux btrfs add_new_free_space

Publication date: 2025-12-30

Last updated on: 2025-12-30

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: remove BUG_ON()'s in add_new_free_space() At add_new_free_space() we have these BUG_ON()'s that are there to deal with any failure to add free space to the in memory free space cache. Such failures are mostly -ENOMEM that should be very rare. However there's no need to have these BUG_ON()'s, we can just return any error to the caller and all callers and their upper call chain are already dealing with errors. So just make add_new_free_space() return any errors, while removing the BUG_ON()'s, and returning the total amount of added free space to an optional u64 pointer argument.
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Meta Information
Published
2025-12-30
Last Modified
2025-12-30
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2025-12-30
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2023-54185
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 2 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux kernel *
linux linux_kernel *
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Exploitability
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN
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Executive Summary

This vulnerability involves the Linux kernel's btrfs filesystem code, specifically in the add_new_free_space() function. Previously, the function used BUG_ON() macros to handle failures when adding free space to the in-memory free space cache, which could cause kernel crashes on rare errors like -ENOMEM. The fix removes these BUG_ON() calls and instead returns error codes to the caller, allowing the system to handle errors gracefully without crashing.

Impact Analysis

If unpatched, this vulnerability could cause the Linux kernel to crash unexpectedly due to the BUG_ON() calls in the btrfs add_new_free_space() function when rare errors occur. This could lead to system instability or downtime. After the fix, errors are handled properly without crashing, improving system reliability.

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