CVE-2023-53996

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/sev: Make enc_dec_hypercall() accept a size instead of npages enc_dec_hypercall() accepted a page count instead of a size, which forced its callers to round up. As a result, non-page aligned vaddrs caused pages to be spuriously marked as decrypted via the encryption status hypercall, which in turn caused consistent corruption of pages during live migration. Live migration requires accurate encryption status information to avoid migrating pages from the wrong perspective.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-12-24
Last modified 2026-04-15
Patch available
Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.16 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1.53, 6.4.16, 6.5.3, 6.6 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 5.16
Fixed in
✓ 6.1.53 6.1.x ✓ 6.4.16 6.4.x ✓ 6.5.3 6.5.x ✓ 6.6

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2023-53996 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-2023-53996?

    CVE-2023-53996 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.16 onward and has been patched in 6.1.53, 6.4.16, 6.5.3 and others. CVE-2023-53996 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2023-53996?

    Yes — CVE-2023-53996 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.53, 6.4.16, 6.5.3 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2023-53996 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2023-53996 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.