CVE-2023-53668
HighIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ring-buffer: Fix deadloop issue on reading trace_pipe Soft lockup occurs when reading file 'trace_pipe': watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#6 stuck for 22s! [cat:4488] [...] RIP: 0010:ring_buffer_empty_cpu+0xed/0x170 RSP: 0018:ffff88810dd6fc48 EFLAGS: 00000246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000246 RCX: ffffffff93d1aaeb RDX: ffff88810a280040 RSI: 0000000000000008 RDI: ffff88811164b218 RBP: ffff88811164b218 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffff88815156600f R10: ffffed102a2acc01 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000051651901 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff888115e49500 R15: 0000000000000000 [...] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f8d853c2000 CR3: 000000010dcd8000 CR4: 00000000000006e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: __find_next_entry+0x1a8/0x4b0 ? peek_next_entry+0x250/0x250 ? down_write+0xa5/0x120 ? down_write_killable+0x130/0x130 trace_find_next_entry_inc+0x3b/0x1d0 tracing_read_pipe+0x423/0xae0 ? tracing_splice_read_pipe+0xcb0/0xcb0 vfs_read+0x16b/0x490 ksys_read+0x105/0x210 ? __ia32_sys_pwrite64+0x200/0x200 ? switch_fpu_return+0x108/0x220 do_syscall_64+0x33/0x40 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6 Through the vmcore, I found it's because in tracing_read_pipe(), ring_buffer_empty_cpu() found some buffer is not empty but then it cannot read anything due to "rb_num_of_entries() == 0" always true, Then it infinitely loop the procedure due to user buffer not been filled, see following code path: tracing_read_pipe() { ... ... waitagain: tracing_wait_pipe() // 1. find non-empty buffer here trace_find_next_entry_inc() // 2. loop here try to find an entry __find_next_entry() ring_buffer_empty_cpu(); // 3. find non-empty buffer peek_next_entry() // 4. but peek always return NULL ring_buffer_peek() rb_buffer_peek() rb_get_reader_page() // 5. because rb_num_of_entries() == 0 always true here // then return NULL // 6. user buffer not been filled so goto 'waitgain' // and eventually leads to an deadloop in kernel!!! } By some analyzing, I found that when resetting ringbuffer, the 'entries' of its pages are not all cleared (see rb_reset_cpu()). Then when reducing the ringbuffer, and if some reduced pages exist dirty 'entries' data, they will be added into 'cpu_buffer->overrun' (see rb_remove_pages()), which cause wrong 'overrun' count and eventually cause the deadloop issue. To fix it, we need to clear every pages in rb_reset_cpu().
CVSS 3.1 score
7.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
Weakness type
CWE-125CVE-2023-53668 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
3.6
and later are affected. Fixed in
4.14.322,
4.19.291,
5.4.251,
5.10.188,
5.15.121,
6.1.40,
6.4.5,
6.5
and their respective stable series.
References
The following references provide additional information about CVE-2023-53668 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a29dae5786d263016a9aceb1e56bf3fd4cc6fa0
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/27bdd93e44cc28dd9b94893fae146b83d4f5b31e
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5e68f1f3a20fe9b6bde018e353269fbfa289609c
Frequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2023-53668?
CVE-2023-53668 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 3.6 onward and has been patched in 4.14.322, 4.19.291, 5.4.251 and others. CVE-2023-53668 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53668?
CVE-2023-53668 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-2023-53668?
Yes — CVE-2023-53668 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.14.322, 4.19.291, 5.4.251 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 3.6 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2023-53668 actively exploited?
No — CVE-2023-53668 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
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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 →