linux — security advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: Pass AT_GETATTR_NOSEC flag to getattr interface function When vfs_getattr_nosec() calls a filesystem's getattr interface function then the 'nosec' should propagate into this function so that vfs_getattr_nosec() can again be called from the filesystem's gettattr rather than vfs_getattr(). The latter would add unnecessary security checks that the initial vfs_getattr_nosec() call wanted to avoid. Therefore, introduce the getattr flag GETATTR_NOSEC and allow to pass with the new getattr_flags parameter to the getattr interface function. In overlayfs and ecryptfs use this flag to determine which one of the two functions to call. In a recent code change introduced to IMA vfs_getattr_nosec() ended up calling vfs_getattr() in overlayfs, which in turn called security_inode_getattr() on an exiting process that did not have current->fs set anymore, which then caused a kernel NULL pointer dereference. With this change the call to security_inode_getattr() can be avoided, thus avoiding the NULL pointer dereference.
- Products
- linux
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- 6.6.8-1
- CVEs
- CVE-2023-52779
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 1 Nov 2026, 16:18 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: Pass AT_GETATTR_NOSEC flag to getattr interface function When vfs_getattr_nosec() calls a filesystem's getattr interface function then the 'nosec' should propagate into this function so that vfs_getattr_nosec() can again be called from the filesystem's gettattr rather than vfs_getattr(). The latter would add unnecessary security checks that the initial vfs_getattr_nosec() call wanted to avoid. Therefore, introduce the getattr flag GETATTR_NOSEC and allow to pass with the new getattr_flags parameter to the getattr interface function. In overlayfs and ecryptfs use this flag to determine which one of the two functions to call. In a recent code change introduced to IMA vfs_getattr_nosec() ended up calling vfs_getattr() in overlayfs, which in turn called security_inode_getattr() on an exiting process that did not have current->fs set anymore, which then caused a kernel NULL pointer dereference. With this change the call to security_inode_getattr() can be avoided, thus avoiding the NULL pointer dereference.
osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52779
linux
Fixed versions: 6.6.8-1
linux
Fixed versions: 6.6.8-1
Complete source record
{
"id": "cc368f715e0dc67d404a105058eb3a24dd56029e6eface3ab7d35b498ed022af",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52779",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52779",
"summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: Pass AT_GETATTR_NOSEC flag to getattr interface function When vfs_getattr_nosec() calls a filesystem's getattr interface function then the 'nosec' should propagate into this function so that vfs_getattr_nosec() can again be called from the filesystem's gettattr rather than vfs_getattr(). The latter would add unnecessary security checks that the initial vfs_getattr_nosec() call wanted to avoid. Therefore, introduce the getattr flag GETATTR_NOSEC and allow to pass with the new getattr_flags parameter to the getattr interface function. In overlayfs and ecryptfs use this flag to determine which one of the two functions to call. In a recent code change introduced to IMA vfs_getattr_nosec() ended up calling vfs_getattr() in overlayfs, which in turn called security_inode_getattr() on an exiting process that did not have current->fs set anymore, which then caused a kernel NULL pointer dereference. With this change the call to security_inode_getattr() can be avoided, thus avoiding the NULL pointer dereference.",
"evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52779",
"products": [
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{
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"severity": "medium",
"structured": {
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"aliases": [
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"metrics": [
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"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
}
],
"affected": [
{
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"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
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{
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"ecosystem": "Debian:13"
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"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52779.json"
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{
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"package": {
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"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52779.json"
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}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-26T18:02:59.244108232Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2023-52779"
],
"references": [
"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-52779"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2023-52779",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 457326,
"published_at": "2024-05-21T16:15:16.89+00:00"
}