CVE-2023-53151

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: md/raid10: prevent soft lockup while flush writes Currently, there is no limit for raid1/raid10 plugged bio. While flushing writes, raid1 has cond_resched() while raid10 doesn't, and too many writes can cause soft lockup. Follow up soft lockup can be triggered easily with writeback test for raid10 with ramdisks: watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#10 stuck for 27s! [md0_raid10:1293] Call Trace: <TASK> call_rcu+0x16/0x20 put_object+0x41/0x80 __delete_object+0x50/0x90 delete_object_full+0x2b/0x40 kmemleak_free+0x46/0xa0 slab_free_freelist_hook.constprop.0+0xed/0x1a0 kmem_cache_free+0xfd/0x300 mempool_free_slab+0x1f/0x30 mempool_free+0x3a/0x100 bio_free+0x59/0x80 bio_put+0xcf/0x2c0 free_r10bio+0xbf/0xf0 raid_end_bio_io+0x78/0xb0 one_write_done+0x8a/0xa0 raid10_end_write_request+0x1b4/0x430 bio_endio+0x175/0x320 brd_submit_bio+0x3b9/0x9b7 [brd] __submit_bio+0x69/0xe0 submit_bio_noacct_nocheck+0x1e6/0x5a0 submit_bio_noacct+0x38c/0x7e0 flush_pending_writes+0xf0/0x240 raid10d+0xac/0x1ed0 Fix the problem by adding cond_resched() to raid10 like what raid1 did. Note that unlimited plugged bio still need to be optimized, for example, in the case of lots of dirty pages writeback, this will take lots of memory and io will spend a long time in plug, hence io latency is bad.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-09-15
Last modified 2025-11-24
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10
Medium
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-667

CVE-2023-53151 is a Improper Locking vulnerability

What is Improper Locking?

The product does not properly acquire or release a lock, which can lead to unexpected behaviour. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 2.6.16 and later are affected. Fixed in 4.14.322, 4.19.291, 5.4.251, 5.10.188, 5.15.150, 6.1.83, 6.4.7, 6.5 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 2.6.16
Fixed in
✓ 4.14.322 4.14.x ✓ 4.19.291 4.19.x ✓ 5.4.251 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.188 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.150 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.83 6.1.x ✓ 6.4.7 6.4.x ✓ 6.5

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2023-53151 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2023-53151?

    CVE-2023-53151 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as an Improper Locking flaw (CWE-667) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 2.6.16 onward and has been patched in 4.14.322, 4.19.291, 5.4.251 and others. CVE-2023-53151 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53151?

    CVE-2023-53151 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2023-53151?

    Yes — CVE-2023-53151 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.14.322, 4.19.291, 5.4.251 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2023-53151 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2023-53151 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

  • What is Improper Locking (CWE-667)?

    The product does not properly acquire or release a lock, which can lead to unexpected behaviour. View CWE-667 on MITRE CWE →