# CVE-2023-53593: cifs: Release folio lock on fscache read hit.

> A missing folio lock release in the Linux kernel CIFS module causes a deadlock and system hang when fscache is enabled and a cache hit occurs.

- **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-2023-53593, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53593, GHSA-c98j-hghp-fmxr, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53593

## What is CVE-2023-53593?

CVE-2023-53593 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:

cifs: Release folio lock on fscache read hit.

Under the current code, when cifs_readpage_worker is called, the call
contract is that the callee should unlock the page. This is documented
in the read_folio section of Documentation/filesystems/vfs.rst as:

> The filesystem should unlock the folio once the read has completed,
> whether it was successful or not.

Without this change, when fscache is in use and cache hit occurs during
a read, the page lock is leaked, producing the following stack on
subsequent reads (via mmap) to the page:

$ cat /proc/3890/task/12864/stack
[<0>] folio_wait_bit_common+0x124/0x350
[<0>] filemap_read_folio+0xad/0xf0
[<0>] filemap_fault+0x8b1/0xab0
[<0>] __do_fault+0x39/0x150
[<0>] do_fault+0x25c/0x3e0
[<0>] __handle_mm_fault+0x6ca/0xc70
[<0>] handle_mm_fault+0xe9/0x350
[<0>] do_user_addr_fault+0x225/0x6c0
[<0>] exc_page_fault+0x84/0x1b0
[<0>] asm_exc_page_fault+0x27/0x30

This requires a reboot to resolve; it is a deadlock.

Note however that the call to cifs_readpage_from_fscache does mark the
page clean, but does not free the folio lock. This happens in
__cifs_readpage_from_fscache on success. Releasing the lock at that
point however is not appropriate as cifs_readahead also calls
cifs_readpage_from_fscache and *does* unconditionally release the lock
after its return. This change therefore effectively makes
cifs_readpage_worker work like cifs_readahead.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53593?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53593?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53593 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53593 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-2023-53593 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53593 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-2023-53593 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-2023-53593/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53593/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53593
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53593
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53593

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53593/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.