# CVE-2023-53796: f2fs: fix information leak in f2fs_move_inline_dirents()

> A local attacker can read uninitialized kernel memory from disk when converting inline directories in the f2fs filesystem.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 9 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53796, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53796, GHSA-g2pf-697j-2r49, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53796

## What is CVE-2023-53796?

CVE-2023-53796 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 9 Dec 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:

f2fs: fix information leak in f2fs_move_inline_dirents()

When converting an inline directory to a regular one, f2fs is leaking
uninitialized memory to disk because it doesn't initialize the entire
directory block.  Fix this by zero-initializing the block.

This bug was introduced by commit 4ec17d688d74 ("f2fs: avoid unneeded
initializing when converting inline dentry"), which didn't consider the
security implications of leaking uninitialized memory to disk.

This was found by running xfstest generic/435 on a KMSAN-enabled kernel.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53796?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53796?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53796 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53796 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53796 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53796 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 9 Dec 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-2023-53796 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2023-53796/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53796/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53796
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53796
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53796

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53796/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.