CVE-2023-53260 ovl: fix null pointer dereference in ovl_permission()
A race condition in the Linux kernel's overlayfs can cause a null pointer dereference, leading to a system crash.
- 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
What is CVE-2023-53260?
CVE-2023-53260 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:
ovl: fix null pointer dereference in ovl_permission()
Following process: P1 P2 path_lookupat link_path_walk inode_permission ovl_permission ovl_i_path_real(inode, &realpath) path->dentry = ovl_i_dentry_upper(inode) drop_cache __dentry_kill(ovl_dentry) iput(ovl_inode) ovl_destroy_inode(ovl_inode) dput(oi->__upperdentry) dentry_kill(upperdentry) dentry_unlink_inode upperdentry->d_inode = NULL realinode = d_inode(realpath.dentry) // return NULL inode_permission(realinode) inode->i_sb // NULL pointer dereference , will trigger an null pointer dereference at realinode: [ 335.664979] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000002 [ 335.668032] CPU: 0 PID: 2592 Comm: ls Not tainted 6.3.0 [ 335.669956] RIP: 0010:inode_permission+0x33/0x2c0 [ 335.678939] Call Trace: [ 335.679165] <TASK> [ 335.679371] ovl_permission+0xde/0x320 [ 335.679723] inode_permission+0x15e/0x2c0 [ 335.680090] link_path_walk+0x115/0x550 [ 335.680771] path_lookupat.isra.0+0xb2/0x200 [ 335.681170] filename_lookup+0xda/0x240 [ 335.681922] vfs_statx+0xa6/0x1f0 [ 335.682233] vfs_fstatat+0x7b/0xb0
Fetch a reproducer in [Link].
Use the helper ovl_i_path_realinode() to get realinode and then do non-nullptr checking.
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53260?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2023-53260?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2023-53260 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53260 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53260, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53260, GHSA-mvvw-5ww4-3hgm, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53260.