dbcve.org
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-52903

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-08-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.89 / 6.1.7 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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: io_uring: lock overflowing for IOPOLL syzbot reports an issue with overflow filling for IOPOLL: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 28 at io_uring/io_uring.c:734 io_cqring_event_overflow+0x1c0/0x230 io_uring/io_uring.c:734 CPU: 0 PID: 28 Comm: kworker/u4:1 Not tainted 6.2.0-rc3-syzkaller-16369-g358a161a6a9e #0 Workqueue: events_unbound io_ring_exit_work Call trace:  io_cqring_event_overflow+0x1c0/0x230 io_uring/io_uring.c:734  io_req_cqe_overflow+0x5c/0x70 io_uring/io_uring.c:773  io_fill_cqe_req io_uring/io_uring.h:168 [inline]  io_do_iopoll+0x474/0x62c io_uring/rw.c:1065  io_iopoll_try_reap_events+0x6c/0x108 io_uring/io_uring.c:1513  io_uring_try_cancel_requests+0x13c/0x258 io_uring/io_uring.c:3056  io_ring_exit_work+0xec/0x390 io_uring/io_uring.c:2869  process_one_work+0x2d8/0x504 kernel/workqueue.c:2289  worker_thread+0x340/0x610 kernel/workqueue.c:2436  kthread+0x12c/0x158 kernel/kthread.c:376  ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:863 There is no real problem for normal IOPOLL as flush is also called with uring_lock taken, but it's getting more complicated for IOPOLL|SQPOLL, for which __io_cqring_overflow_flush() happens from the CQ waiting path.

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:<= 5.10.165>= 5.11, < 5.15.89>= 5.16, < 6.1.7= 6.2

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 5.15.89 / 6.1.7 or later
Fixed in 5.15.896.1.7
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 6.2.1 or later; for 5.15.x branch use 5.15.89 or later; for 6.1.x branch use 6.1.7 or later

  1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Check if the running kernel version is affected: <= 5.10.165, 5.11-5.15.88, 5.16-6.1.6, or 6.2
  3. If affected, update the kernel package to a patched version using the system's package manager (e.g., `apt update && apt upgrade linux-image` for Debian/Ubuntu, `yum update kernel` for RHEL/CentOS, or `pacman -Syu` for Arch)
  4. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  5. Verify the new kernel version is running with `uname -r` and confirm it is not in the affected version range
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system downtime and could introduce compatibility issues with proprietary kernel modules or specific hardware drivers; ensure backups and test in non-production environment first

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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-52903 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-52903 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data