# CVE-2023-53247: btrfs: set_page_extent_mapped after read_folio in btrfs_cont_expand

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel panic in the Btrfs filesystem by exploiting a race condition during file expansion, causing a denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:** 15 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-71236, BELL-CVE-2023-53247, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53247, GHSA-73r6-2g26-rxx5, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53247, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53247, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53247

## What is CVE-2023-53247?

CVE-2023-53247 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 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:

btrfs: set_page_extent_mapped after read_folio in btrfs_cont_expand

While trying to get the subpage blocksize tests running, I hit the
following panic on generic/476

  assertion failed: PagePrivate(page) && page->private, in fs/btrfs/subpage.c:229
  kernel BUG at fs/btrfs/subpage.c:229!
  Internal error: Oops - BUG: 00000000f2000800 [#1] SMP
  CPU: 1 PID: 1453 Comm: fsstress Not tainted 6.4.0-rc7+ #12
  Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS edk2-20230301gitf80f052277c8-26.fc38 03/01/2023
  pstate: 61400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
  pc : btrfs_subpage_assert+0xbc/0xf0
  lr : btrfs_subpage_assert+0xbc/0xf0
  Call trace:
   btrfs_subpage_assert+0xbc/0xf0
   btrfs_subpage_clear_checked+0x38/0xc0
   btrfs_page_clear_checked+0x48/0x98
   btrfs_truncate_block+0x5d0/0x6a8
   btrfs_cont_expand+0x5c/0x528
   btrfs_write_check.isra.0+0xf8/0x150
   btrfs_buffered_write+0xb4/0x760
   btrfs_do_write_iter+0x2f8/0x4b0
   btrfs_file_write_iter+0x1c/0x30
   do_iter_readv_writev+0xc8/0x158
   do_iter_write+0x9c/0x210
   vfs_iter_write+0x24/0x40
   iter_file_splice_write+0x224/0x390
   direct_splice_actor+0x38/0x68
   splice_direct_to_actor+0x12c/0x260
   do_splice_direct+0x90/0xe8
   generic_copy_file_range+0x50/0x90
   vfs_copy_file_range+0x29c/0x470
   __arm64_sys_copy_file_range+0xcc/0x498
   invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0x80/0xd8
   do_el0_svc+0x6c/0x168
   el0_svc+0x50/0x1b0
   el0t_64_sync_handler+0x114/0x120
   el0t_64_sync+0x194/0x198

This happens because during btrfs_cont_expand we'll get a page, set it
as mapped, and if it's not Uptodate we'll read it.  However between the
read and re-locking the page we could have called release_folio() on the
page, but left the page in the file mapping.  release_folio() can clear
the page private, and thus further down we blow up when we go to modify
the subpage bits.

Fix this by putting the set_page_extent_mapped() after the read.  This
is safe because read_folio() will call set_page_extent_mapped() before
it does the read, and then if we clear page private but leave it on the
mapping we're completely safe re-setting set_page_extent_mapped().  With
this patch I can now run generic/476 without panicing.

Weakness: CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53247?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53247?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53247 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53247 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-2023-53247 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53247 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 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-2023-53247 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-2023-53247/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53247/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53247
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53247
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53247

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53247/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.