---
id: CVE-2023-52699
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  sysv: don't call sb_bread() with pointers_lock held

  syzbot is reporting sleep in atomic context in SysV filesystem [1], for
  sb_bread() is called with rw_spinlock held.…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  sysv: don't call sb_bread() with pointers_lock held

  syzbot is reporting sleep in atomic context in SysV filesystem [1], for
  sb_bread() is called with rw_spinlock held.…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.3
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'
cwe:
  - CWE-667
vendor: linux
product: linux_kernel
affected:
  - linux_kernel < 4.19.312
  - 'linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.274'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.215'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.155'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.86'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.27'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.8.6'
  - debian_linux = 10.0
patched:
  - linux_kernel 6.8.6
published: '2024-05-19'
updated: '2026-10-15'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-15T01:17:16.273'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52699'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/13b33feb2ebddc2b1aa607f553566b18a4af1d76'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b4fe801b5bedec2b622ddb18e5c9bf26c63d79f'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53cb1e52c9db618c08335984d1ca80db220ccf09'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/674c1c4229e743070e09db63a23442950ff000d1'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89e8524135a3902e7563a5a59b7b5ec1bf4904ac'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a69224223746ab96d43e5db9d22d136827b7e2d3'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f123dc86388cb669c3d6322702dc441abc35c31e'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fd203d2c671bdee9ab77090ff394d3b71b627927'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/13b33feb2ebddc2b1aa607f553566b18a4af1d76'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b4fe801b5bedec2b622ddb18e5c9bf26c63d79f'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53cb1e52c9db618c08335984d1ca80db220ccf09'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/674c1c4229e743070e09db63a23442950ff000d1'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89e8524135a3902e7563a5a59b7b5ec1bf4904ac'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a69224223746ab96d43e5db9d22d136827b7e2d3'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f123dc86388cb669c3d6322702dc441abc35c31e'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fd203d2c671bdee9ab77090ff394d3b71b627927'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/06/msg00017.html'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/06/msg00020.html'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00974
epssPercentile: 0.6187
ingestedAt: '2026-10-15T03:30:12.688Z'
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2024-05-21T15:05:59.108260Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

sysv: don't call sb_bread() with pointers_lock held

syzbot is reporting sleep in atomic context in SysV filesystem [1], for
sb_bread() is called with rw_spinlock held.

A "write_lock(&pointers_lock) => read_lock(&pointers_lock) deadlock" bug
and a "sb_bread() with write_lock(&pointers_lock)" bug were introduced by
"Replace BKL for chain locking with sysvfs-private rwlock" in Linux 2.5.12.

Then, "[PATCH] err1-40: sysvfs locking fix" in Linux 2.6.8 fixed the
former bug by moving pointers_lock lock to the callers, but instead
introduced a "sb_bread() with read_lock(&pointers_lock)" bug (which made
this problem easier to hit).

Al Viro suggested that why not to do like get_branch()/get_block()/
find_shared() in Minix filesystem does. And doing like that is almost a
revert of "[PATCH] err1-40: sysvfs locking fix" except that get_branch()
 from with find_shared() is called without write_lock(&pointers_lock).

## Affected

- `linux_kernel < 4.19.312`
- `linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.274`
- `linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.215`
- `linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.155`
- `linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.86`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.27`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.8.6`
- `debian_linux = 10.0`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `linux_kernel 6.8.6`