What is CVE-2023-53491?

CVE-2023-53491 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 2.6.30 onward and patched in 6.4.4 and 6.5. CVE-2023-53491 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53491?

CVE-2023-53491 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. 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-2023-53491?

Yes, CVE-2023-53491 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.4.4 and 6.5. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.30 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2023-53491 actively exploited?

CVE-2023-53491 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2023-53491

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: start_kernel: Add __no_stack_protector function attribute Back during the discussion of commit a9a3ed1eff36 ("x86: Fix early boot crash on gcc-10, third try") we discussed the need for a function attribute to control the omission of stack protectors on a per-function basis; at the time Clang had support for no_stack_protector but GCC did not. This was fixed in gcc-11. Now that the function attribute is available, let's start using it. Callers of boot_init_stack_canary need to use this function attribute unless they're compiled with -fno-stack-protector, otherwise the canary stored in the stack slot of the caller will differ upon the call to boot_init_stack_canary. This will lead to a call to __stack_chk_fail() then panic.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-10-01

Last modified 2026-01-23

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 2.6.30 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.4.4, 6.5 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 2.6.30

Fixed in

✓ 6.4.4 6.4.x ✓ 6.5

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2023-53491 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/25e73018b4093e0cfbcec5dc4a4bb86d0b69ed56
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/514ca14ed5444b911de59ed3381dfd195d99fe4b
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2023-53491

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-10-01

Modified 2026-01-23

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53491?

CVE-2023-53491 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 2.6.30 onward and has been patched in 6.4.4 and 6.5. CVE-2023-53491 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53491?

CVE-2023-53491 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-2023-53491?

Yes — CVE-2023-53491 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.4.4 and 6.5. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.30 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2023-53491 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2023-53491 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.