CVE-2023-54196
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided
NULL Pointer Dereference in Linux Kernel NTFS3 Inode Handling

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: fs/ntfs3: Fix NULL pointer dereference in 'ni_write_inode' Syzbot found the following issue: Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000016 Mem abort info: ESR = 0x0000000096000006 EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits SET = 0, FnV = 0 EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 FSC = 0x06: level 2 translation fault Data abort info: ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000006 CM = 0, WnR = 0 user pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=000000010af56000 [0000000000000016] pgd=08000001090da003, p4d=08000001090da003, pud=08000001090ce003, pmd=0000000000000000 Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000006 [#1] PREEMPT SMP Modules linked in: CPU: 1 PID: 3036 Comm: syz-executor206 Not tainted 6.0.0-rc6-syzkaller-17739-g16c9f284e746 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 08/26/2022 pstate: 80400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : is_rec_inuse fs/ntfs3/ntfs.h:313 [inline] pc : ni_write_inode+0xac/0x798 fs/ntfs3/frecord.c:3232 lr : ni_write_inode+0xa0/0x798 fs/ntfs3/frecord.c:3226 sp : ffff8000126c3800 x29: ffff8000126c3860 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: ffff0000c8b02000 x26: ffff0000c7502320 x25: ffff0000c7502288 x24: 0000000000000000 x23: ffff80000cbec91c x22: ffff0000c8b03000 x21: ffff0000c8b02000 x20: 0000000000000001 x19: ffff0000c75024d8 x18: 00000000000000c0 x17: ffff80000dd1b198 x16: ffff80000db59158 x15: ffff0000c4b6b500 x14: 00000000000000b8 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: ffff0000c4b6b500 x11: ff80800008be1b60 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : ffff0000c4b6b500 x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : ffff800008be1b50 x6 : 0000000000000000 x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 : 0000000000000000 x2 : 0000000000000008 x1 : 0000000000000001 x0 : 0000000000000000 Call trace: is_rec_inuse fs/ntfs3/ntfs.h:313 [inline] ni_write_inode+0xac/0x798 fs/ntfs3/frecord.c:3232 ntfs_evict_inode+0x54/0x84 fs/ntfs3/inode.c:1744 evict+0xec/0x334 fs/inode.c:665 iput_final fs/inode.c:1748 [inline] iput+0x2c4/0x324 fs/inode.c:1774 ntfs_new_inode+0x7c/0xe0 fs/ntfs3/fsntfs.c:1660 ntfs_create_inode+0x20c/0xe78 fs/ntfs3/inode.c:1278 ntfs_create+0x54/0x74 fs/ntfs3/namei.c:100 lookup_open fs/namei.c:3413 [inline] open_last_lookups fs/namei.c:3481 [inline] path_openat+0x804/0x11c4 fs/namei.c:3688 do_filp_open+0xdc/0x1b8 fs/namei.c:3718 do_sys_openat2+0xb8/0x22c fs/open.c:1311 do_sys_open fs/open.c:1327 [inline] __do_sys_openat fs/open.c:1343 [inline] __se_sys_openat fs/open.c:1338 [inline] __arm64_sys_openat+0xb0/0xe0 fs/open.c:1338 __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:38 [inline] invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:52 [inline] el0_svc_common+0x138/0x220 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:142 do_el0_svc+0x48/0x164 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:206 el0_svc+0x58/0x150 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:636 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x84/0xf0 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:654 el0t_64_sync+0x18c/0x190 Code: 97dafee4 340001b4 f9401328 2a1f03e0 (79402d14) ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Above issue may happens as follows: ntfs_new_inode mi_init mi->mrec = kmalloc(sbi->record_size, GFP_NOFS); -->failed to allocate memory if (!mi->mrec) return -ENOMEM; iput iput_final evict ntfs_evict_inode ni_write_inode is_rec_inuse(ni->mi.mrec)-> As 'ni->mi.mrec' is NULL trigger NULL-ptr-deref To solve above issue if new inode failed make inode bad before call 'iput()' in 'ntfs_new_inode()'.
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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-2023-54196
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel *
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?

This vulnerability is a NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's NTFS3 filesystem driver, specifically in the 'ni_write_inode' function. It occurs when memory allocation for a new inode record fails, resulting in a NULL pointer that is later dereferenced, causing a kernel crash (NULL pointer dereference). The issue arises because the code does not properly handle the failure of memory allocation before calling 'iput()', leading to the dereference of a NULL pointer.


How can this vulnerability impact me? :

This vulnerability can cause the Linux kernel to crash or become unstable due to a NULL pointer dereference in the NTFS3 filesystem driver. This can lead to system crashes or denial of service, potentially disrupting normal operations on systems using the affected kernel and filesystem.


What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?

The vulnerability is a NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's ntfs3 filesystem code. To mitigate this vulnerability, update the Linux kernel to a version where this issue is fixed. The fix involves ensuring that if new inode allocation fails, the inode is marked bad before calling iput(), preventing the NULL pointer dereference. Until the kernel is updated, avoid using the ntfs3 filesystem or untrusted NTFS volumes that might trigger this issue.


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