# CVE-2023-53035: nilfs2: fix kernel-infoleak in nilfs_ioctl_wrap_copy()

> A local attacker can read uninitialized kernel memory via nilfs2 ioctl commands, potentially exposing sensitive kernel data.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 May 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53035, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53035, GHSA-8xff-q6g9-rjjv, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53035

## What is CVE-2023-53035?

CVE-2023-53035 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nilfs2: fix kernel-infoleak in nilfs_ioctl_wrap_copy()

The ioctl helper function nilfs_ioctl_wrap_copy(), which exchanges a
metadata array to/from user space, may copy uninitialized buffer regions
to user space memory for read-only ioctl commands NILFS_IOCTL_GET_SUINFO
and NILFS_IOCTL_GET_CPINFO.

This can occur when the element size of the user space metadata given by
the v_size member of the argument nilfs_argv structure is larger than the
size of the metadata element (nilfs_suinfo structure or nilfs_cpinfo
structure) on the file system side.

KMSAN-enabled kernels detect this issue as follows:

 BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in instrument_copy_to_user
 include/linux/instrumented.h:121 [inline]
 BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in _copy_to_user+0xc0/0x100 lib/usercopy.c:33
  instrument_copy_to_user include/linux/instrumented.h:121 [inline]
  _copy_to_user+0xc0/0x100 lib/usercopy.c:33
  copy_to_user include/linux/uaccess.h:169 [inline]
  nilfs_ioctl_wrap_copy+0x6fa/0xc10 fs/nilfs2/ioctl.c:99
  nilfs_ioctl_get_info fs/nilfs2/ioctl.c:1173 [inline]
  nilfs_ioctl+0x2402/0x4450 fs/nilfs2/ioctl.c:1290
  nilfs_compat_ioctl+0x1b8/0x200 fs/nilfs2/ioctl.c:1343
  __do_compat_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:968 [inline]
  __se_compat_sys_ioctl+0x7dd/0x1000 fs/ioctl.c:910
  __ia32_compat_sys_ioctl+0x93/0xd0 fs/ioctl.c:910
  do_syscall_32_irqs_on arch/x86/entry/common.c:112 [inline]
  __do_fast_syscall_32+0xa2/0x100 arch/x86/entry/common.c:178
  do_fast_syscall_32+0x37/0x80 arch/x86/entry/common.c:203
  do_SYSENTER_32+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/common.c:246
  entry_SYSENTER_compat_after_hwframe+0x70/0x82

 Uninit was created at:
  __alloc_pages+0x9f6/0xe90 mm/page_alloc.c:5572
  alloc_pages+0xab0/0xd80 mm/mempolicy.c:2287
  __get_free_pages+0x34/0xc0 mm/page_alloc.c:5599
  nilfs_ioctl_wrap_copy+0x223/0xc10 fs/nilfs2/ioctl.c:74
  nilfs_ioctl_get_info fs/nilfs2/ioctl.c:1173 [inline]
  nilfs_ioctl+0x2402/0x4450 fs/nilfs2/ioctl.c:1290
  nilfs_compat_ioctl+0x1b8/0x200 fs/nilfs2/ioctl.c:1343
  __do_compat_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:968 [inline]
  __se_compat_sys_ioctl+0x7dd/0x1000 fs/ioctl.c:910
  __ia32_compat_sys_ioctl+0x93/0xd0 fs/ioctl.c:910
  do_syscall_32_irqs_on arch/x86/entry/common.c:112 [inline]
  __do_fast_syscall_32+0xa2/0x100 arch/x86/entry/common.c:178
  do_fast_syscall_32+0x37/0x80 arch/x86/entry/common.c:203
  do_SYSENTER_32+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/common.c:246
  entry_SYSENTER_compat_after_hwframe+0x70/0x82

 Bytes 16-127 of 3968 are uninitialized
 ...

This eliminates the leak issue by initializing the page allocated as
buffer using get_zeroed_page().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53035?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53035?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53035 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53035 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53035 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53035 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53035 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53035/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53035/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53035
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53035
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53035

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53035/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
