CVE-2023-53461

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring: wait interruptibly for request completions on exit WHen the ring exits, cleanup is done and the final cancelation and waiting on completions is done by io_ring_exit_work. That function is invoked by kworker, which doesn't take any signals. Because of that, it doesn't really matter if we wait for completions in TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE or TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE state. However, it does matter to the hung task detection checker! Normally we expect cancelations and completions to happen rather quickly. Some test cases, however, will exit the ring and park the owning task stopped (eg via SIGSTOP). If the owning task needs to run task_work to complete requests, then io_ring_exit_work won't make any progress until the task is runnable again. Hence io_ring_exit_work can trigger the hung task detection, which is particularly problematic if panic-on-hung-task is enabled. As the ring exit doesn't take signals to begin with, have it wait interruptibly rather than uninterruptibly. io_uring has a separate stuck-exit warning that triggers independently anyway, so we're not really missing anything by making this switch.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-10-01
Last modified 2026-01-16
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

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.1 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 6.1.39, 6.4.4, 6.5 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 5.1
Fixed in
✓ 5.10.188 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.121 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.39 6.1.x ✓ 6.4.4 6.4.x ✓ 6.5

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2023-53461 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

5 patch commits total View all on NVD

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2023-53461?

    CVE-2023-53461 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.1 onward and has been patched in 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 6.1.39 and others. CVE-2023-53461 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53461?

    CVE-2023-53461 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-2023-53461?

    Yes — CVE-2023-53461 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.188, 5.15.121, 6.1.39 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.1 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2023-53461 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2023-53461 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

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