# CVE-2023-53862: hfs: fix missing hfs_bnode_get() in __hfs_bnode_create

> A missing reference count increment in the Linux kernel HFS filesystem driver causes a null pointer dereference and kernel crash during writeback.

- **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:** 9 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53862, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53862, GHSA-m2pr-jfxc-3hf8, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53862

## What is CVE-2023-53862?

CVE-2023-53862 is a high-severity 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:

hfs: fix missing hfs_bnode_get() in __hfs_bnode_create

Syzbot found a kernel BUG in hfs_bnode_put():

 kernel BUG at fs/hfs/bnode.c:466!
 invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN
 CPU: 0 PID: 3634 Comm: kworker/u4:5 Not tainted 6.1.0-rc7-syzkaller-00190-g97ee9d1c1696 #0
 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 10/26/2022
 Workqueue: writeback wb_workfn (flush-7:0)
 RIP: 0010:hfs_bnode_put+0x46f/0x480 fs/hfs/bnode.c:466
 Code: 8a 80 ff e9 73 fe ff ff 89 d9 80 e1 07 80 c1 03 38 c1 0f 8c a0 fe ff ff 48 89 df e8 db 8a 80 ff e9 93 fe ff ff e8 a1 68 2c ff <0f> 0b e8 9a 68 2c ff 0f 0b 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 55 41 57 41 56
 RSP: 0018:ffffc90003b4f258 EFLAGS: 00010293
 RAX: ffffffff825e318f RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: ffff8880739dd7c0
 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000
 RBP: ffffc90003b4f430 R08: ffffffff825e2d9b R09: ffffed10045157d1
 R10: ffffed10045157d1 R11: 1ffff110045157d0 R12: ffff8880228abe80
 R13: ffff88807016c000 R14: dffffc0000000000 R15: ffff8880228abe00
 FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880b9800000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
 CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
 CR2: 00007fa6ebe88718 CR3: 000000001e93d000 CR4: 00000000003506f0
 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  hfs_write_inode+0x1bc/0xb40
  write_inode fs/fs-writeback.c:1440 [inline]
  __writeback_single_inode+0x4d6/0x670 fs/fs-writeback.c:1652
  writeback_sb_inodes+0xb3b/0x18f0 fs/fs-writeback.c:1878
  __writeback_inodes_wb+0x125/0x420 fs/fs-writeback.c:1949
  wb_writeback+0x440/0x7b0 fs/fs-writeback.c:2054
  wb_check_start_all fs/fs-writeback.c:2176 [inline]
  wb_do_writeback fs/fs-writeback.c:2202 [inline]
  wb_workfn+0x827/0xef0 fs/fs-writeback.c:2235
  process_one_work+0x877/0xdb0 kernel/workqueue.c:2289
  worker_thread+0xb14/0x1330 kernel/workqueue.c:2436
  kthread+0x266/0x300 kernel/kthread.c:376
  ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:306
  </TASK>

The BUG_ON() is triggered at here:

/* Dispose of resources used by a node */
void hfs_bnode_put(struct hfs_bnode *node)
{
	if (node) {
 		<skipped>
 		BUG_ON(!atomic_read(&node->refcnt)); <- we have issue here!!!!
 		<skipped>
 	}
}

By tracing the refcnt, I found the node is created by hfs_bmap_alloc()
with refcnt 1.  Then the node is used by hfs_btree_write().  There is a
missing of hfs_bnode_get() after find the node.  The issue happened in
following path:

<alloc>
 hfs_bmap_alloc
   hfs_bnode_find
     __hfs_bnode_create   <- allocate a new node with refcnt 1.
   hfs_bnode_put          <- decrease the refcnt

<write>
 hfs_btree_write
   hfs_bnode_find
     __hfs_bnode_create
       hfs_bnode_findhash <- find the node without refcnt increased.
   hfs_bnode_put	  <- trigger the BUG_ON() since refcnt is 0.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53862?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53862?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53862 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53862 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53862 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53862 is a high-severity 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-2023-53862 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-2023-53862/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53862/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53862
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53862
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53862

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53862/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.