# CVE-2023-54069: ext4: fix BUG in ext4_mb_new_inode_pa() due to overflow

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel BUG via integer overflow in ext4 block allocation, causing a system crash.

- **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:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54069, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54069, GHSA-ccf9-6597-4cqp, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54069

## What is CVE-2023-54069?

CVE-2023-54069 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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:

ext4: fix BUG in ext4_mb_new_inode_pa() due to overflow

When we calculate the end position of ext4_free_extent, this position may
be exactly where ext4_lblk_t (i.e. uint) overflows. For example, if
ac_g_ex.fe_logical is 4294965248 and ac_orig_goal_len is 2048, then the
computed end is 0x100000000, which is 0. If ac->ac_o_ex.fe_logical is not
the first case of adjusting the best extent, that is, new_bex_end > 0, the
following BUG_ON will be triggered:

=========================================================
kernel BUG at fs/ext4/mballoc.c:5116!
invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI
CPU: 3 PID: 673 Comm: xfs_io Tainted: G E 6.5.0-rc1+ #279
RIP: 0010:ext4_mb_new_inode_pa+0xc5/0x430
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 ext4_mb_use_best_found+0x203/0x2f0
 ext4_mb_try_best_found+0x163/0x240
 ext4_mb_regular_allocator+0x158/0x1550
 ext4_mb_new_blocks+0x86a/0xe10
 ext4_ext_map_blocks+0xb0c/0x13a0
 ext4_map_blocks+0x2cd/0x8f0
 ext4_iomap_begin+0x27b/0x400
 iomap_iter+0x222/0x3d0
 __iomap_dio_rw+0x243/0xcb0
 iomap_dio_rw+0x16/0x80
=========================================================

A simple reproducer demonstrating the problem:

	mkfs.ext4 -F /dev/sda -b 4096 100M
	mount /dev/sda /tmp/test
	fallocate -l1M /tmp/test/tmp
	fallocate -l10M /tmp/test/file
	fallocate -i -o 1M -l16777203M /tmp/test/file
	fsstress -d /tmp/test -l 0 -n 100000 -p 8 &
	sleep 10 && killall -9 fsstress
	rm -f /tmp/test/tmp
	xfs_io -c "open -ad /tmp/test/file" -c "pwrite -S 0xff 0 8192"

We simply refactor the logic for adjusting the best extent by adding
a temporary ext4_free_extent ex and use extent_logical_end() to avoid
overflow, which also simplifies the code.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54069?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54069?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54069 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54069 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54069 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54069 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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-2023-54069 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-2023-54069/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54069/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54069
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54069
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54069

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54069/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.