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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-52587

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.307 / 5.4.269 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Public exploit Zero-click Patch available

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 · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: IB/ipoib: Fix mcast list locking Releasing the `priv->lock` while iterating the `priv->multicast_list` in `ipoib_mcast_join_task()` opens a window for `ipoib_mcast_dev_flush()` to remove the items while in the middle of iteration. If the mcast is removed while the lock was dropped, the for loop spins forever resulting in a hard lockup (as was reported on RHEL 4.18.0-372.75.1.el8_6 kernel): Task A (kworker/u72:2 below) | Task B (kworker/u72:0 below) -----------------------------------+----------------------------------- ipoib_mcast_join_task(work) | ipoib_ib_dev_flush_light(work) spin_lock_irq(&priv->lock) | __ipoib_ib_dev_flush(priv, ...) list_for_each_entry(mcast, | ipoib_mcast_dev_flush(dev = priv->dev) &priv->multicast_list, list) | ipoib_mcast_join(dev, mcast) | spin_unlock_irq(&priv->lock) | | spin_lock_irqsave(&priv->lock, flags) | list_for_each_entry_safe(mcast, tmcast, | &priv->multicast_list, list) | list_del(&mcast->list); | list_add_tail(&mcast->list, &remove_list) | spin_unlock_irqrestore(&priv->lock, flags) spin_lock_irq(&priv->lock) | | ipoib_mcast_remove_list(&remove_list) (Here, `mcast` is no longer on the | list_for_each_entry_safe(mcast, tmcast, `priv->multicast_list` and we keep | remove_list, list) spinning on the `remove_list` of | >>> wait_for_completion(&mcast->done) the other thread which is blocked | and the list is still valid on | it's stack.) Fix this by keeping the lock held and changing to GFP_ATOMIC to prevent eventual sleeps. Unfortunately we could not reproduce the lockup and confirm this fix but based on the code review I think this fix should address such lockups. crash> bc 31 PID: 747 TASK: ff1c6a1a007e8000 CPU: 31 COMMAND: "kworker/u72:2" -- [exception RIP: ipoib_mcast_join_task+0x1b1] RIP: ffffffffc0944ac1 RSP: ff646f199a8c7e00 RFLAGS: 00000002 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ff1c6a1a04dc82f8 RCX: 0000000000000000 work (&priv->mcast_task{,.work}) RDX: ff1c6a192d60ac68 RSI: 0000000000000286 RDI: ff1c6a1a04dc8000 &mcast->list RBP: ff646f199a8c7e90 R8: ff1c699980019420 R9: ff1c6a1920c9a000 R10: ff646f199a8c7e00 R11: ff1c6a191a7d9800 R12: ff1c6a192d60ac00 mcast R13: ff1c6a1d82200000 R14: ff1c6a1a04dc8000 R15: ff1c6a1a04dc82d8 dev priv (&priv->lock) &priv->multicast_list (aka head) ORIG_RAX: ffffffffffffffff CS: 0010 SS: 0018 --- <NMI exception stack> --- #5 [ff646f199a8c7e00] ipoib_mcast_join_task+0x1b1 at ffffffffc0944ac1 [ib_ipoib] #6 [ff646f199a8c7e98] process_one_work+0x1a7 at ffffffff9bf10967 crash> rx ff646f199a8c7e68 ff646f199a8c7e68: ff1c6a1a04dc82f8 <<< work = &priv->mcast_task.work crash> list -hO ipoib_dev_priv.multicast_list ff1c6a1a04dc8000 (empty) crash> ipoib_dev_priv.mcast_task.work.func,mcast_mutex.owner.counter ff1c6a1a04dc8000 mcast_task.work.func = 0xffffffffc0944910 <ipoib_mcast_join_task>, mcast_mutex.owner.counter = 0xff1c69998efec000 crash> b 8 PID: 8 TASK: ff1c69998efec000 CPU: 33 COMMAND: "kworker/u72:0" -- #3 [ff646f1980153d50] wait_for_completion+0x96 at ffffffff9c7d7646 #4 [ff646f1980153d90] ipoib_mcast_remove_list+0x56 at ffffffffc0944dc6 [ib_ipoib] #5 [ff646f1980153de8] ipoib_mcast_dev_flush+0x1a7 at ffffffffc09455a7 [ib_ipoib] #6 [ff646f1980153e58] __ipoib_ib_dev_flush+0x1a4 at ffffffffc09431a4 [ib_ipoib] #7 [ff ---truncated---

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 analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-667

Shared 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
Affected:< 4.19.307>= 4.20, < 5.4.269>= 5.5, < 5.10.210>= 5.11, < 5.15.149>= 5.16, < 6.1.77>= 6.2, < 6.6.16>= 6.7, < 6.7.4

CVSS 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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.19.307 / 5.4.269 / 5.10.210 or later
Fixed in 4.19.3075.4.2695.10.210
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel >= 4.19.307, >= 5.4.269, >= 5.10.210, or >= 5.15.149 (any later stable release)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which major kernel branch your current version belongs to (4.19.x, 5.4.x, 5.10.x, or 5.15.x)
  3. Plan downtime for kernel upgrade - this requires a system reboot
  4. Upgrade to a fixed kernel version: for 4.19.x branch upgrade to >= 4.19.307; for 5.4.x branch upgrade to >= 5.4.269; for 5.10.x branch upgrade to >= 5.10.210; for 5.15.x branch upgrade to >= 5.15.149
  5. On RHEL/CentOS systems, use: `yum update kernel` or `dnf upgrade kernel`
  6. On Debian/Ubuntu systems, use: `apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-<version>`
  7. On SUSE systems, use: `zypper patch` or install kernel-default package
  8. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching kernel module dependencies; ensure related packages (like ib_ipoib kernel module) are also updated; some hardware drivers may have changed behavior in newer kernels

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-52587 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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