CVE-2023-53171
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided
BaseFortify

Publication date: 2025-09-15

Last updated on: 2025-12-02

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vfio/type1: prevent underflow of locked_vm via exec() When a vfio container is preserved across exec, the task does not change, but it gets a new mm with locked_vm=0, and loses the count from existing dma mappings. If the user later unmaps a dma mapping, locked_vm underflows to a large unsigned value, and a subsequent dma map request fails with ENOMEM in __account_locked_vm. To avoid underflow, grab and save the mm at the time a dma is mapped. Use that mm when adjusting locked_vm, rather than re-acquiring the saved task's mm, which may have changed. If the saved mm is dead, do nothing. locked_vm is incremented for existing mappings in a subsequent patch.
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Meta Information
Published
2025-09-15
Last Modified
2025-12-02
Generated
2026-05-07
AI Q&A
2025-09-15
EPSS Evaluated
2026-05-05
NVD
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 4 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel From 3.6 (inc) to 5.10.173 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 5.11 (inc) to 5.15.99 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 5.16 (inc) to 6.1.16 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.2 (inc) to 6.2.3 (exc)
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CWE ID Description
CWE-NVD-CWE-noinfo
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AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?

This vulnerability occurs in the Linux kernel's vfio/type1 driver where an underflow of the locked_vm counter happens during an exec() call. When a vfio container is preserved across exec, the task's memory descriptor (mm) changes, resetting locked_vm to zero and losing the count from existing DMA mappings. If the user later unmaps a DMA mapping, locked_vm underflows to a large unsigned value, causing subsequent DMA map requests to fail with ENOMEM errors. The fix involves saving the mm at the time a DMA is mapped and using that saved mm when adjusting locked_vm to prevent underflow.


How can this vulnerability impact me? :

This vulnerability can cause failures in DMA mapping requests due to locked_vm underflow, leading to ENOMEM errors. This means that applications relying on vfio for DMA mappings may experience resource allocation failures, potentially causing disruptions or degraded performance in systems using this functionality.


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