Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2023-52484
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommu/arm-smmu-v3: Fix soft lockup triggered by arm_smmu_mm_invalidate_range When running an SVA case, the following soft lockup is triggered: -------------------------------------------------------------------- watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#244 stuck for 26s! pstate: 83400009 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO +TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : arm_smmu_cmdq_issue_cmdlist+0x178/0xa50 lr : arm_smmu_cmdq_issue_cmdlist+0x150/0xa50 sp : ffff8000d83ef290 x29: ffff8000d83ef290 x28: 000000003b9aca00 x27: 0000000000000000 x26: ffff8000d83ef3c0 x25: da86c0812194a0e8 x24: 0000000000000000 x23: 0000000000000040 x22: ffff8000d83ef340 x21: ffff0000c63980c0 x20: 0000000000000001 x19: ffff0000c6398080 x18: 0000000000000000 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: ffff3000b4a3bbb0 x14: ffff3000b4a30888 x13: ffff3000b4a3cf60 x12: 0000000000000000 x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : ffffc08120e4d6bc x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000048cfa x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 : 000000000000000a x2 : 0000000080000000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 0000000000000001 Call trace: arm_smmu_cmdq_issue_cmdlist+0x178/0xa50 __arm_smmu_tlb_inv_range+0x118/0x254 arm_smmu_tlb_inv_range_asid+0x6c/0x130 arm_smmu_mm_invalidate_range+0xa0/0xa4 __mmu_notifier_invalidate_range_end+0x88/0x120 unmap_vmas+0x194/0x1e0 unmap_region+0xb4/0x144 do_mas_align_munmap+0x290/0x490 do_mas_munmap+0xbc/0x124 __vm_munmap+0xa8/0x19c __arm64_sys_munmap+0x28/0x50 invoke_syscall+0x78/0x11c el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x58/0x1c0 do_el0_svc+0x34/0x60 el0_svc+0x2c/0xd4 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x114/0x140 el0t_64_sync+0x1a4/0x1a8 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Note that since 6.6-rc1 the arm_smmu_mm_invalidate_range above is renamed to "arm_smmu_mm_arch_invalidate_secondary_tlbs", yet the problem remains. The commit 06ff87bae8d3 ("arm64: mm: remove unused functions and variable protoypes") fixed a similar lockup on the CPU MMU side. Yet, it can occur to SMMU too, since arm_smmu_mm_arch_invalidate_secondary_tlbs() is called typically next to MMU tlb flush function, e.g. tlb_flush_mmu_tlbonly { tlb_flush { __flush_tlb_range { // check MAX_TLBI_OPS } } mmu_notifier_arch_invalidate_secondary_tlbs { arm_smmu_mm_arch_invalidate_secondary_tlbs { // does not check MAX_TLBI_OPS } } } Clone a CMDQ_MAX_TLBI_OPS from the MAX_TLBI_OPS in tlbflush.h, since in an SVA case SMMU uses the CPU page table, so it makes sense to align with the tlbflush code. Then, replace per-page TLBI commands with a single per-asid TLBI command, if the request size hits this threshold.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysisShared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.
General guidance for the improper locking class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
< 5.15.134>= 5.16, < 6.1.56>= 6.2, < 6.5.6= 6.6CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped5.15.1346.1.566.5.6
Linux kernel >= 5.15.134, >= 6.1.56, >= 6.5.6, or >= 6.6.1 (any stable release at or above these versions)
- Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
- Check if the running kernel version is affected: < 5.15.134, 5.16.x - 6.1.55, 6.2.x - 6.5.5, or 6.6.x
- Obtain a kernel update from your distribution's kernel repository or compile a kernel from source using a fixed tag (e.g., v5.15.134, v6.1.56, v6.5.6, or v6.6.1)
- Apply the fix by cherry-picking commit 3283a1bce9bbc978059f790b84f3c10c32492429 if building a custom kernel
- Reboot the system with the updated kernel to apply the fix
- Verify the fix is applied by checking kernel version and confirming the soft lockup no longer occurs under SVA workloads
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-52484 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-52484 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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