CVE-2023-53998
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hwrng: virtio - Fix race on data_avail and actual data The virtio rng device kicks off a new entropy request whenever the data available reaches zero. When a new request occurs at the end of a read operation, that is, when the result of that request is only needed by the next reader, then there is a race between the writing of the new data and the next reader. This is because there is no synchronisation whatsoever between the writer and the reader. Fix this by writing data_avail with smp_store_release and reading it with smp_load_acquire when we first enter read. The subsequent reads are safe because they're either protected by the first load acquire, or by the completion mechanism. Also remove the redundant zeroing of data_idx in random_recv_done (data_idx must already be zero at this point) and data_avail in request_entropy (ditto).
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
2.6.26
and later are affected. Fixed in
4.19.291,
5.4.251,
5.10.188,
5.15.121,
6.1.39,
6.3.13,
6.4.4,
6.5
and their respective stable series.
References
The following references provide additional information about CVE-2023-53998 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/22c30022cde6e2c88612b3a499223cfa912f1bc7
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/241ef15776a7c8505008db689175b320d345ecd3
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2fc91f156b3f3446a1bce80cf4adedcbf41271c2
Frequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2023-53998?
CVE-2023-53998 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 2.6.26 onward and has been patched in 4.19.291, 5.4.251, 5.10.188 and others. CVE-2023-53998 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2023-53998?
Yes — CVE-2023-53998 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.19.291, 5.4.251, 5.10.188 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.26 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2023-53998 actively exploited?
No — CVE-2023-53998 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.