# CVE-2023-53584: ubifs: ubifs_releasepage: Remove ubifs_assert(0) to valid this process

> A race condition in the Linux kernel UBIFS filesystem triggers an assertion failure, causing the filesystem to switch to read-only mode and resulting in 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:** 4 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53584, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53584, GHSA-r29j-x5gx-p5gg, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53584, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53584, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53584

## What is CVE-2023-53584?

CVE-2023-53584 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 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:

ubifs: ubifs_releasepage: Remove ubifs_assert(0) to valid this process

There are two states for ubifs writing pages:
1. Dirty, Private
2. Not Dirty, Not Private

The normal process cannot go to ubifs_releasepage() which means there
exists pages being private but not dirty. Reproducer[1] shows that it
could occur (which maybe related to [2]) with following process:

     PA                     PB                    PC
lock(page)[PA]
ubifs_write_end
  attach_page_private         // set Private
  __set_page_dirty_nobuffers  // set Dirty
unlock(page)

write_cache_pages[PA]
  lock(page)
  clear_page_dirty_for_io(page)	// clear Dirty
  ubifs_writepage

                        do_truncation[PB]
			  truncate_setsize
			    i_size_write(inode, newsize) // newsize = 0

    i_size = i_size_read(inode)	// i_size = 0
    end_index = i_size >> PAGE_SHIFT
    if (page->index > end_index)
      goto out // jump
out:
unlock(page)   // Private, Not Dirty

						generic_fadvise[PC]
						  lock(page)
						  invalidate_inode_page
						    try_to_release_page
						      ubifs_releasepage
						        ubifs_assert(c, 0)
		                                        // bad assertion!
						  unlock(page)
			  truncate_pagecache[PB]

Then we may get following assertion failed:
  UBIFS error (ubi0:0 pid 1683): ubifs_assert_failed [ubifs]:
  UBIFS assert failed: 0, in fs/ubifs/file.c:1513
  UBIFS warning (ubi0:0 pid 1683): ubifs_ro_mode [ubifs]:
  switched to read-only mode, error -22
  CPU: 2 PID: 1683 Comm: aa Not tainted 5.16.0-rc5-00184-g0bca5994cacc-dirty #308
  Call Trace:
    dump_stack+0x13/0x1b
    ubifs_ro_mode+0x54/0x60 [ubifs]
    ubifs_assert_failed+0x4b/0x80 [ubifs]
    ubifs_releasepage+0x67/0x1d0 [ubifs]
    try_to_release_page+0x57/0xe0
    invalidate_inode_page+0xfb/0x130
    __invalidate_mapping_pages+0xb9/0x280
    invalidate_mapping_pagevec+0x12/0x20
    generic_fadvise+0x303/0x3c0
    ksys_fadvise64_64+0x4c/0xb0

[1] https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=215373
[2] https://linux-mtd.infradead.narkive.com/NQoBeT1u/patch-rfc-ubifs-fix-assert-failed-in-ubifs-set-page-dirty

Weakness: CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53584?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53584?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53584 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53584 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-2023-53584 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53584 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 Oct 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-2023-53584 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-2023-53584/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53584/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53584
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53584
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53584

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53584/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.