Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2023-52621

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.237 / 5.15.181 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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: bpf: Check rcu_read_lock_trace_held() before calling bpf map helpers These three bpf_map_{lookup,update,delete}_elem() helpers are also available for sleepable bpf program, so add the corresponding lock assertion for sleepable bpf program, otherwise the following warning will be reported when a sleepable bpf program manipulates bpf map under interpreter mode (aka bpf_jit_enable=0): WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 4985 at kernel/bpf/helpers.c:40 ...... CPU: 3 PID: 4985 Comm: test_progs Not tainted 6.6.0+ #2 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996) ...... RIP: 0010:bpf_map_lookup_elem+0x54/0x60 ...... Call Trace: <TASK> ? __warn+0xa5/0x240 ? bpf_map_lookup_elem+0x54/0x60 ? report_bug+0x1ba/0x1f0 ? handle_bug+0x40/0x80 ? exc_invalid_op+0x18/0x50 ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1b/0x20 ? __pfx_bpf_map_lookup_elem+0x10/0x10 ? rcu_lockdep_current_cpu_online+0x65/0xb0 ? rcu_is_watching+0x23/0x50 ? bpf_map_lookup_elem+0x54/0x60 ? __pfx_bpf_map_lookup_elem+0x10/0x10 ___bpf_prog_run+0x513/0x3b70 __bpf_prog_run32+0x9d/0xd0 ? __bpf_prog_enter_sleepable_recur+0xad/0x120 ? __bpf_prog_enter_sleepable_recur+0x3e/0x120 bpf_trampoline_6442580665+0x4d/0x1000 __x64_sys_getpgid+0x5/0x30 ? do_syscall_64+0x36/0xb0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0x76 </TASK>

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-617

Attacker-controllable input can reach an assertion that aborts the process when it fails, so a check meant for debugging becomes a denial-of-service in production. A single crafted request takes the service down. The fix is to handle unexpected input gracefully on reachable paths rather than asserting on it.

General guidance for the reachable assertion 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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.10, < 5.10.237>= 5.11, < 5.15.181>= 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 5.10.237 / 5.15.181 / 6.1.77 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2375.15.1816.1.77
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.10.237 / 5.15.181 / 6.1.77 / 6.6.16 or later (select based on your current branch)

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a fixed release version: 5.10.237+, 5.15.181+, 6.1.77+, or 6.6.16+ depending on your current branch
  2. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  3. Verify the fix by ensuring BPF programs with sleepable functions work correctly without kernel warnings in interpreter mode (bpf_jit_enable=0)
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuild of out-of-tree kernel modules; ensure compatible drivers and modules are available for the target kernel version

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 $1,950. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2023-52621 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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