CVE-2023-54130: hfs/hfsplus: avoid WARN_ON() for sanity check, use proper error handling

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-12-24 · updated 2026-08-04

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hfs/hfsplus: avoid WARN_ON() for sanity check, use proper error handling Commit 55d1cbbbb29e ("hfs/hfsplus: use WARN_ON for sanity check") fixed a build warning by turning a comment into a WARN_ON(), but it turns out that syzbot then complains because it can trigger said warning with a corrupted hfs image. The warning actually does warn about a bad situation, but we are much better off just handling it as the error it is. So rather than warn about us doing bad things, stop doing the bad things and return -EIO. While at it, also fix a memory leak that was introduced by an earlier fix for a similar syzbot warning situation, and add a check for one case that historically wasn't handled at all (ie neither comment nor subsequent WARN_ON).

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 4.9.337 before 4.10; 5.16 — fixed in 4.10, 6.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 4.10, 6.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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