CVE-2023-53149

ext4: avoid deadlock in fs reclaim with page writeback

Published Sep 15, 2025 CVSS 3.1 · 5.5 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ext4: avoid deadlock in fs reclaim with page writeback

Ext4 has a filesystem wide lock protecting ext4_writepages() calls to
avoid races with switching of journalled data flag or inode format. This
lock can however cause a deadlock like:

CPU0 CPU1

ext4_writepages()
percpu_down_read(sbi->s_writepages_rwsem);
ext4_change_inode_journal_flag()
percpu_down_write(sbi->s_writepages_rwsem);
- blocks, all readers block from now on
ext4_do_writepages()
ext4_init_io_end()
kmem_cache_zalloc(io_end_cachep, GFP_KERNEL)
fs_reclaim frees dentry...
dentry_unlink_inode()
iput() - last ref =>
iput_final() - inode dirty =>
write_inode_now()...
ext4_writepages() tries to acquire sbi->s_writepages_rwsem
and blocks forever

Make sure we cannot recurse into filesystem reclaim from writeback code
to avoid the deadlock.

Analysis

No analysis available yet

Remediation

No remediation available yet

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
EUVD EUVD EUVD-2023-59818 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: avoid deadlock in fs reclaim with page writeback Ext4 has a filesystem wide lock protecting ext4_writepages() calls to avoid races with switching of journalled data flag or inode format. This lock can however cause a deadlock like: CPU0 CPU1 ext4_writepages() percpu_down_read(sbi->s_writepages_rwsem); ext4_change_inode_journal_flag() percpu_down_write(sbi->s_writepages_rwsem); - blocks, all readers block from now on ext4_do_writepages() ext4_init_io_end() kmem_cache_zalloc(io_end_cachep, GFP_KERNEL) fs_reclaim frees dentry... dentry_unlink_inode() iput() - last ref => iput_final() - inode dirty => write_inode_now()... ext4_writepages() tries to acquire sbi->s_writepages_rwsem and blocks forever Make sure we cannot recurse into filesystem reclaim from writeback code to avoid the deadlock.
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-667
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.4:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: avoid deadlock in fs reclaim with page writeback Ext4 has a filesystem wide lock protecting ext4_writepages() calls to avoid races with switching of journalled data flag or inode format. This lock can however cause a deadlock like: CPU0 CPU1 ext4_writepages() percpu_down_read(sbi->s_writepages_rwsem); ext4_change_inode_journal_flag() percpu_down_write(sbi->s_writepages_rwsem); - blocks, all readers block from now on ext4_do_writepages() ext4_init_io_end() kmem_cache_zalloc(io_end_cachep, GFP_KERNEL) fs_reclaim frees dentry... dentry_unlink_inode() iput() - last ref => iput_final() - inode dirty => write_inode_now()... ext4_writepages() tries to acquire sbi->s_writepages_rwsem and blocks forever Make sure we cannot recurse into filesystem reclaim from writeback code to avoid the deadlock.
Title ext4: avoid deadlock in fs reclaim with page writeback
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Nov 5, 2026, 8:21 PM
Reserved
May 2, 2025, 3:51 PM
Status
Modified
Published
Sep 15, 2025, 2:15 PM
Modified
Nov 5, 2026, 9:17 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Sep 15, 2025, 12:00 AM