# CVE-2023-53294: fs/ntfs3: Fix null-ptr-deref on inode->i_op in ntfs_lookup()

> A local attacker can cause a kernel crash via null pointer dereference in the NTFS3 filesystem driver when processing malformed MFT records.

- **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:** 16 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53294, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53294, GHSA-9436-jjr2-vc98, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53294

## What is CVE-2023-53294?

CVE-2023-53294 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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:

fs/ntfs3: Fix null-ptr-deref on inode->i_op in ntfs_lookup()

Syzbot reported a null-ptr-deref bug:

ntfs3: loop0: Different NTFS' sector size (1024) and media sector size
(512)
ntfs3: loop0: Mark volume as dirty due to NTFS errors
general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address
0xdffffc0000000001: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000008-0x000000000000000f]
RIP: 0010:d_flags_for_inode fs/dcache.c:1980 [inline]
RIP: 0010:__d_add+0x5ce/0x800 fs/dcache.c:2796
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 d_splice_alias+0x122/0x3b0 fs/dcache.c:3191
 lookup_open fs/namei.c:3391 [inline]
 open_last_lookups fs/namei.c:3481 [inline]
 path_openat+0x10e6/0x2df0 fs/namei.c:3688
 do_filp_open+0x264/0x4f0 fs/namei.c:3718
 do_sys_openat2+0x124/0x4e0 fs/open.c:1310
 do_sys_open fs/open.c:1326 [inline]
 __do_sys_open fs/open.c:1334 [inline]
 __se_sys_open fs/open.c:1330 [inline]
 __x64_sys_open+0x221/0x270 fs/open.c:1330
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x3d/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

If the MFT record of ntfs inode is not a base record, inode->i_op can be
NULL. And a null-ptr-deref may happen:

ntfs_lookup()
    dir_search_u() # inode->i_op is set to NULL
    d_splice_alias()
        __d_add()
            d_flags_for_inode() # inode->i_op->get_link null-ptr-deref

Fix this by adding a Check on inode->i_op before calling the
d_splice_alias() function.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53294?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53294?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53294 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53294 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-2023-53294 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53294 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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-2023-53294 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-2023-53294/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53294/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53294
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53294
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53294

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53294/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.