CVE-2023-53272

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ena: fix shift-out-of-bounds in exponential backoff The ENA adapters on our instances occasionally reset. Once recently logged a UBSAN failure to console in the process: UBSAN: shift-out-of-bounds in build/linux/drivers/net/ethernet/amazon/ena/ena_com.c:540:13 shift exponent 32 is too large for 32-bit type 'unsigned int' CPU: 28 PID: 70012 Comm: kworker/u72:2 Kdump: loaded not tainted 5.15.117 Hardware name: Amazon EC2 c5d.9xlarge/, BIOS 1.0 10/16/2017 Workqueue: ena ena_fw_reset_device [ena] Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x4a/0x63 dump_stack+0x10/0x16 ubsan_epilogue+0x9/0x36 __ubsan_handle_shift_out_of_bounds.cold+0x61/0x10e ? __const_udelay+0x43/0x50 ena_delay_exponential_backoff_us.cold+0x16/0x1e [ena] wait_for_reset_state+0x54/0xa0 [ena] ena_com_dev_reset+0xc8/0x110 [ena] ena_down+0x3fe/0x480 [ena] ena_destroy_device+0xeb/0xf0 [ena] ena_fw_reset_device+0x30/0x50 [ena] process_one_work+0x22b/0x3d0 worker_thread+0x4d/0x3f0 ? process_one_work+0x3d0/0x3d0 kthread+0x12a/0x150 ? set_kthread_struct+0x50/0x50 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 </TASK> Apparently, the reset delays are getting so large they can trigger a UBSAN panic. Looking at the code, the current timeout is capped at 5000us. Using a base value of 100us, the current code will overflow after (1<<29). Even at values before 32, this function wraps around, perhaps unintentionally. Cap the value of the exponent used for this backoff at (1<<16) which is larger than currently necessary, but large enough to support bigger values in the future.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-09-16
Last modified 2026-01-14
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.1

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

Weakness type

CWE-125

CVE-2023-53272 is a Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability

What is Out-of-bounds Read?

The product reads data past the end or before the beginning of the intended buffer. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.8 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 6.1.40, 6.4.5, 6.5 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 5.8
Fixed in
✓ 5.10.188 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.121 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.40 6.1.x ✓ 6.4.5 6.4.x ✓ 6.5

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2023-53272 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-2023-53272?

    CVE-2023-53272 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.1 out of 10 , classified as an Out-of-bounds Read flaw (CWE-125) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.8 onward and has been patched in 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 6.1.40 and others. CVE-2023-53272 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53272?

    CVE-2023-53272 has a CVSS score of 7.1 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2023-53272?

    Yes — CVE-2023-53272 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 6.1.40 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.8 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2023-53272 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2023-53272 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

  • What is Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125)?

    The product reads data past the end or before the beginning of the intended buffer. View CWE-125 on MITRE CWE →