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
2026-05-07
AI Q&A
2025-12-30
EPSS Evaluated
2026-05-05
NVD
CVE-2023-54185
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 2 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux kernel *
linux linux_kernel *
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN
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AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?

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.


How can this vulnerability impact me? :

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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