CVE-2023-53457 FS: JFS: Fix null-ptr-deref Read in txBegin
A local attacker can cause a kernel crash by triggering a null pointer dereference in the JFS filesystem when txBegin is called on a read-only mount.
- 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-2023-53457?
CVE-2023-53457 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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: JFS: Fix null-ptr-deref Read in txBegin
Syzkaller reported an issue where txBegin may be called on a superblock in a read-only mounted filesystem which leads to NULL pointer deref. This could be solved by checking if the filesystem is read-only before calling txBegin, and returning with appropiate error code.
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53457?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2023-53457?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2023-53457 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53457 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53457, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53457, GHSA-gq3m-5wp3-hvhp, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53457.