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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-52981

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.11 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: drm/i915: Fix request ref counting during error capture & debugfs dump When GuC support was added to error capture, the reference counting around the request object was broken. Fix it up. The context based search manages the spinlocking around the search internally. So it needs to grab the reference count internally as well. The execlist only request based search relies on external locking, so it needs an external reference count but within the spinlock not outside it. The only other caller of the context based search is the code for dumping engine state to debugfs. That code wasn't previously getting an explicit reference at all as it does everything while holding the execlist specific spinlock. So, that needs updaing as well as that spinlock doesn't help when using GuC submission. Rather than trying to conditionally get/put depending on submission model, just change it to always do the get/put. v2: Explicitly document adding an extra blank line in some dense code (Andy Shevchenko). Fix multiple potential null pointer derefs in case of no request found (some spotted by Tvrtko, but there was more!). Also fix a leaked request in case of !started and another in __guc_reset_context now that intel_context_find_active_request is actually reference counting the returned request. v3: Add a _get suffix to intel_context_find_active_request now that it grabs a reference (Daniele). v4: Split the intel_guc_find_hung_context change to a separate patch and rename intel_context_find_active_request_get to intel_context_get_active_request (Tvrtko). v5: s/locking/reference counting/ in commit message (Tvrtko) (cherry picked from commit 3700e353781e27f1bc7222f51f2cc36cbeb9b4ec)

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 5.15, < 6.1.11= 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 6.1.11 or later
Fixed in 6.1.11
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.1.11+ (for 6.1.x branch) or 6.3+ (for 6.2.x branch)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. For systems running 6.1.x: Upgrade to kernel version 6.1.11 or later (e.g., 6.1.12, 6.1.13, etc.)
  3. For systems running 6.2.x: Upgrade to kernel version 6.3 or later
  4. For systems running 5.15.x: Upgrade to a supported stable branch that includes the fix (6.1.11+ or 6.3+)
  5. Reboot the system after applying the kernel update
  6. Verify the fix by checking the kernel version matches the fixed releases
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility changes with third-party kernel modules; ensure backup 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

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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-2023-52981 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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