CVE-2023-53169
BaseFortify
Publication date: 2025-09-15
Last updated on: 2025-12-02
Assigner: kernel.org
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | From 5.15 (inc) to 5.15.104 (exc) |
| linux | linux_kernel | From 5.16 (inc) to 6.1.21 (exc) |
| linux | linux_kernel | From 6.2 (inc) to 6.2.8 (exc) |
| linux | linux_kernel | 6.3 |
| linux | linux_kernel | 6.3 |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-NVD-CWE-noinfo |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability in the Linux kernel's x86 resctrl subsystem occurs because a temporary storage array, staged_config[], in rdt_domain is not cleared before and after use. This causes stale values to persist, leading to an MSR (Model-Specific Register) access error when creating new resource control groups. Specifically, when creating a new group, the system tries to write to an invalid MSR register due to outdated staged_config[] values, causing an unchecked MSR access error.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
The impact of this vulnerability is that attempts to create new resource control groups in the Linux kernel can fail with an MSR access error. This can disrupt the configuration of hardware resource controls, potentially causing system instability or failure in managing resource allocation properly.
How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?
This vulnerability can be detected by attempting to reproduce the error when creating resource control groups using the resctrl filesystem. The provided reproducer commands are: mount -t resctrl resctrl -o cdp /sys/fs/resctrl mkdir /sys/fs/resctrl/p{1..7} umount /sys/fs/resctrl/ mount -t resctrl resctrl /sys/fs/resctrl mkdir /sys/fs/resctrl/p{1..8} If an error occurs when creating the resource group named p8, such as an unchecked MSR access error (WRMSR to 0xca0), it indicates the presence of the vulnerability.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
Immediate mitigation involves ensuring that the Linux kernel is updated to a version where the staged_config[] array in rdt_domain is properly cleared before and after use, as per the fix described. Additionally, disabling MBA (Memory Bandwidth Allocation) if the number of CLOSIDs for MB is less than 16 can help avoid triggering the issue during resource group creation.