Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2023-52792
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: cxl/region: Do not try to cleanup after cxl_region_setup_targets() fails Commit 5e42bcbc3fef ("cxl/region: decrement ->nr_targets on error in cxl_region_attach()") tried to avoid 'eiw' initialization errors when ->nr_targets exceeded 16, by just decrementing ->nr_targets when cxl_region_setup_targets() failed. Commit 86987c766276 ("cxl/region: Cleanup target list on attach error") extended that cleanup to also clear cxled->pos and p->targets[pos]. The initialization error was incidentally fixed separately by: Commit 8d4285425714 ("cxl/region: Fix port setup uninitialized variable warnings") which was merged a few days after 5e42bcbc3fef. But now the original cleanup when cxl_region_setup_targets() fails prevents endpoint and switch decoder resources from being reused: 1) the cleanup does not set the decoder's region to NULL, which results in future dpa_size_store() calls returning -EBUSY 2) the decoder is not properly freed, which results in future commit errors associated with the upstream switch Now that the initialization errors were fixed separately, the proper cleanup for this case is to just return immediately. Then the resources associated with this target get cleanup up as normal when the failed region is deleted. The ->nr_targets decrement in the error case also helped prevent a p->targets[] array overflow, so add a new check to prevent against that overflow. Tested by trying to create an invalid region for a 2 switch * 2 endpoint topology, and then following up with creating a valid region.
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 analysisMemory or a resource is used before it has been initialised, so its contents are whatever happened to be there — sometimes leaking earlier data, sometimes values an attacker can influence. Behaviour becomes unpredictable and occasionally exploitable. Remediation is initialising every resource before use and ensuring initialisation happens on all code paths.
General guidance for the use of uninitialized resource 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
>= 6.0, < 6.1.64>= 6.2, < 6.5.13>= 6.6, < 6.6.3CVSS 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 · scoped6.1.646.5.136.6.3
Linux kernel 6.1.64, 6.5.13, or 6.6.3 (or later respective stable branches)
- Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
- Based on the current kernel version, upgrade to a fixed release: If using 6.0.x or 6.1.x, upgrade to 6.1.64 or later; If using 6.2.x through 6.5.x, upgrade to 6.5.13 or later; If using 6.6.x, upgrade to 6.6.3 or later
- Apply the kernel upgrade using the distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get dist-upgrade`, `yum update`, or `dnf upgrade`)
- Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
- Verify the running kernel version with `uname -r` to confirm the fix is applied
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-52792 — 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-2023-52792 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
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