# CVE-2023-54196: fs/ntfs3: Fix NULL pointer dereference in 'ni_write_inode'

> A local attacker can trigger a NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel NTFS3 driver, 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:** 30 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54196, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54196, GHSA-p4wm-h3cj-5rh8, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54196

## What is CVE-2023-54196?

CVE-2023-54196 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 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:

fs/ntfs3: Fix NULL pointer dereference in 'ni_write_inode'

Syzbot found the following issue:
Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000016
Mem abort info:
  ESR = 0x0000000096000006
  EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits
  SET = 0, FnV = 0
  EA = 0, S1PTW = 0
  FSC = 0x06: level 2 translation fault
Data abort info:
  ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000006
  CM = 0, WnR = 0
user pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=000000010af56000
[0000000000000016] pgd=08000001090da003, p4d=08000001090da003, pud=08000001090ce003, pmd=0000000000000000
Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000006 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
Modules linked in:
CPU: 1 PID: 3036 Comm: syz-executor206 Not tainted 6.0.0-rc6-syzkaller-17739-g16c9f284e746 #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 08/26/2022
pstate: 80400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
pc : is_rec_inuse fs/ntfs3/ntfs.h:313 [inline]
pc : ni_write_inode+0xac/0x798 fs/ntfs3/frecord.c:3232
lr : ni_write_inode+0xa0/0x798 fs/ntfs3/frecord.c:3226
sp : ffff8000126c3800
x29: ffff8000126c3860 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: ffff0000c8b02000
x26: ffff0000c7502320 x25: ffff0000c7502288 x24: 0000000000000000
x23: ffff80000cbec91c x22: ffff0000c8b03000 x21: ffff0000c8b02000
x20: 0000000000000001 x19: ffff0000c75024d8 x18: 00000000000000c0
x17: ffff80000dd1b198 x16: ffff80000db59158 x15: ffff0000c4b6b500
x14: 00000000000000b8 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: ffff0000c4b6b500
x11: ff80800008be1b60 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : ffff0000c4b6b500
x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : ffff800008be1b50 x6 : 0000000000000000
x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 : 0000000000000000
x2 : 0000000000000008 x1 : 0000000000000001 x0 : 0000000000000000
Call trace:
 is_rec_inuse fs/ntfs3/ntfs.h:313 [inline]
 ni_write_inode+0xac/0x798 fs/ntfs3/frecord.c:3232
 ntfs_evict_inode+0x54/0x84 fs/ntfs3/inode.c:1744
 evict+0xec/0x334 fs/inode.c:665
 iput_final fs/inode.c:1748 [inline]
 iput+0x2c4/0x324 fs/inode.c:1774
 ntfs_new_inode+0x7c/0xe0 fs/ntfs3/fsntfs.c:1660
 ntfs_create_inode+0x20c/0xe78 fs/ntfs3/inode.c:1278
 ntfs_create+0x54/0x74 fs/ntfs3/namei.c:100
 lookup_open fs/namei.c:3413 [inline]
 open_last_lookups fs/namei.c:3481 [inline]
 path_openat+0x804/0x11c4 fs/namei.c:3688
 do_filp_open+0xdc/0x1b8 fs/namei.c:3718
 do_sys_openat2+0xb8/0x22c fs/open.c:1311
 do_sys_open fs/open.c:1327 [inline]
 __do_sys_openat fs/open.c:1343 [inline]
 __se_sys_openat fs/open.c:1338 [inline]
 __arm64_sys_openat+0xb0/0xe0 fs/open.c:1338
 __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:38 [inline]
 invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:52 [inline]
 el0_svc_common+0x138/0x220 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:142
 do_el0_svc+0x48/0x164 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:206
 el0_svc+0x58/0x150 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:636
 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x84/0xf0 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:654
 el0t_64_sync+0x18c/0x190
Code: 97dafee4 340001b4 f9401328 2a1f03e0 (79402d14)
---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

Above issue may happens as follows:
ntfs_new_inode
  mi_init
    mi->mrec = kmalloc(sbi->record_size, GFP_NOFS); -->failed to allocate memory
      if (!mi->mrec)
        return -ENOMEM;
iput
  iput_final
    evict
      ntfs_evict_inode
        ni_write_inode
	  is_rec_inuse(ni->mi.mrec)-> As 'ni->mi.mrec' is NULL trigger NULL-ptr-deref

To solve above issue if new inode failed make inode bad before call 'iput()' in
'ntfs_new_inode()'.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54196?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54196?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54196 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54196 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54196 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54196 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 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-2023-54196 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-2023-54196/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54196/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54196
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54196
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54196

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54196/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.