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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-52998

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.9 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: net: fec: Use page_pool_put_full_page when freeing rx buffers The page_pool_release_page was used when freeing rx buffers, and this function just unmaps the page (if mapped) and does not recycle the page. So after hundreds of down/up the eth0, the system will out of memory. For more details, please refer to the following reproduce steps and bug logs. To solve this issue and refer to the doc of page pool, the page_pool_put_full_page should be used to replace page_pool_release_page. Because this API will try to recycle the page if the page refcnt equal to 1. After testing 20000 times, the issue can not be reproduced anymore (about testing 391 times the issue will occur on i.MX8MN-EVK before). Reproduce steps: Create the test script and run the script. The script content is as follows: LOOPS=20000 i=1 while [ $i -le $LOOPS ] do echo "TINFO:ENET $curface up and down test $i times" org_macaddr=$(cat /sys/class/net/eth0/address) ifconfig eth0 down ifconfig eth0 hw ether $org_macaddr up i=$(expr $i + 1) done sleep 5 if cat /sys/class/net/eth0/operstate | grep 'up';then echo "TEST PASS" else echo "TEST FAIL" fi Bug detail logs: TINFO:ENET up and down test 391 times [ 850.471205] Qualcomm Atheros AR8031/AR8033 30be0000.ethernet-1:00: attached PHY driver (mii_bus:phy_addr=30be0000.ethernet-1:00, irq=POLL) [ 853.535318] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready [ 853.541694] fec 30be0000.ethernet eth0: Link is Up - 1Gbps/Full - flow control rx/tx [ 870.590531] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 199 inflight 60 sec [ 931.006557] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 199 inflight 120 sec TINFO:ENET up and down test 392 times [ 991.426544] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 192 inflight 181 sec [ 1051.838531] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 170 inflight 241 sec [ 1093.751217] Qualcomm Atheros AR8031/AR8033 30be0000.ethernet-1:00: attached PHY driver (mii_bus:phy_addr=30be0000.ethernet-1:00, irq=POLL) [ 1096.446520] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 308 inflight 60 sec [ 1096.831245] fec 30be0000.ethernet eth0: Link is Up - 1Gbps/Full - flow control rx/tx [ 1096.839092] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready [ 1112.254526] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 103 inflight 302 sec [ 1156.862533] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 308 inflight 120 sec [ 1172.674516] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 103 inflight 362 sec [ 1217.278532] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 308 inflight 181 sec TINFO:ENET up and down test 393 times [ 1233.086535] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 103 inflight 422 sec [ 1277.698513] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 308 inflight 241 sec [ 1293.502525] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 86 inflight 483 sec [ 1338.110518] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 308 inflight 302 sec [ 1353.918540] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 32 inflight 543 sec [ 1361.179205] Qualcomm Atheros AR8031/AR8033 30be0000.ethernet-1:00: attached PHY driver (mii_bus:phy_addr=30be0000.ethernet-1:00, irq=POLL) [ 1364.255298] fec 30be0000.ethernet eth0: Link is Up - 1Gbps/Full - flow control rx/tx [ 1364.263189] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready [ 1371.998532] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 310 inflight 60 sec [ 1398.530542] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 308 inflight 362 sec [ 1414.334539] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 16 inflight 604 sec [ 1432.414520] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 310 inflight 120 sec [ 1458.942523] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 308 inflight 422 sec [ 1474.750521] page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown 16 inflight 664 sec TINFO:ENET up and down test 394 times [ 1492.8305 ---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

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:>= 6.1, < 6.1.9= 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 6.1.9 or later
Fixed in 6.1.9
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.1.9+ or 6.2.x stable (any version after the backport of commit 554484a34e985a307756ee4794e60be31e3db2e5)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.1.9 or later (if using the 6.1.x stable branch)
  3. Alternatively, upgrade to a 6.2.x version that includes the fix (the fix commit 554484a34e985a307756ee4794e60be31e3db2e5 was backported to stable trees)
  4. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  5. Verify the fix by running repeated interface down/up cycles (e.g., 20000 loops as in the reproduce steps) and monitor for `page_pool_release_retry` warnings in dmesg
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce regressions in other drivers; ensure compatibility with userspace and custom modules before deploying

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

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