# CVE-2023-53429: btrfs: don't check PageError in __extent_writepage

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's btrfs filesystem allows error bits to leak, potentially causing system instability or crashes.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 18 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 3 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-71921, BELL-CVE-2023-53429, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53429, GHSA-95qf-frmh-4g6j, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53429, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2023-53429, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53429, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53429

## What is CVE-2023-53429?

CVE-2023-53429 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 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: don't check PageError in __extent_writepage

__extent_writepage currenly sets PageError whenever any error happens,
and the also checks for PageError to decide if to call error handling.
This leads to very unclear responsibility for cleaning up on errors.
In the VM and generic writeback helpers the basic idea is that once
I/O is fired off all error handling responsibility is delegated to the
end I/O handler.  But if that end I/O handler sets the PageError bit,
and the submitter checks it, the bit could in some cases leak into the
submission context for fast enough I/O.

Fix this by simply not checking PageError and just using the local
ret variable to check for submission errors.  This also fundamentally
solves the long problem documented in a comment in __extent_writepage
by never leaking the error bit into the submission context.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53429?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53429?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53429 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53429 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-2023-53429 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53429 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 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-2023-53429 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-2023-53429/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53429/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53429
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53429
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53429

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53429/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.