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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53031

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.229 / 5.10.164 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: powerpc/imc-pmu: Fix use of mutex in IRQs disabled section Current imc-pmu code triggers a WARNING with CONFIG_DEBUG_ATOMIC_SLEEP and CONFIG_PROVE_LOCKING enabled, while running a thread_imc event. Command to trigger the warning: # perf stat -e thread_imc/CPM_CS_FROM_L4_MEM_X_DPTEG/ sleep 5 Performance counter stats for 'sleep 5': 0 thread_imc/CPM_CS_FROM_L4_MEM_X_DPTEG/ 5.002117947 seconds time elapsed 0.000131000 seconds user 0.001063000 seconds sys Below is snippet of the warning in dmesg: BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/locking/mutex.c:580 in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 1, non_block: 0, pid: 2869, name: perf-exec preempt_count: 2, expected: 0 4 locks held by perf-exec/2869: #0: c00000004325c540 (&sig->cred_guard_mutex){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: bprm_execve+0x64/0xa90 #1: c00000004325c5d8 (&sig->exec_update_lock){++++}-{3:3}, at: begin_new_exec+0x460/0xef0 #2: c0000003fa99d4e0 (&cpuctx_lock){-...}-{2:2}, at: perf_event_exec+0x290/0x510 #3: c000000017ab8418 (&ctx->lock){....}-{2:2}, at: perf_event_exec+0x29c/0x510 irq event stamp: 4806 hardirqs last enabled at (4805): [<c000000000f65b94>] _raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore+0x94/0xd0 hardirqs last disabled at (4806): [<c0000000003fae44>] perf_event_exec+0x394/0x510 softirqs last enabled at (0): [<c00000000013c404>] copy_process+0xc34/0x1ff0 softirqs last disabled at (0): [<0000000000000000>] 0x0 CPU: 36 PID: 2869 Comm: perf-exec Not tainted 6.2.0-rc2-00011-g1247637727f2 #61 Hardware name: 8375-42A POWER9 0x4e1202 opal:v7.0-16-g9b85f7d961 PowerNV Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl+0x98/0xe0 (unreliable) __might_resched+0x2f8/0x310 __mutex_lock+0x6c/0x13f0 thread_imc_event_add+0xf4/0x1b0 event_sched_in+0xe0/0x210 merge_sched_in+0x1f0/0x600 visit_groups_merge.isra.92.constprop.166+0x2bc/0x6c0 ctx_flexible_sched_in+0xcc/0x140 ctx_sched_in+0x20c/0x2a0 ctx_resched+0x104/0x1c0 perf_event_exec+0x340/0x510 begin_new_exec+0x730/0xef0 load_elf_binary+0x3f8/0x1e10 ... do not call blocking ops when !TASK_RUNNING; state=2001 set at [<00000000fd63e7cf>] do_nanosleep+0x60/0x1a0 WARNING: CPU: 36 PID: 2869 at kernel/sched/core.c:9912 __might_sleep+0x9c/0xb0 CPU: 36 PID: 2869 Comm: sleep Tainted: G W 6.2.0-rc2-00011-g1247637727f2 #61 Hardware name: 8375-42A POWER9 0x4e1202 opal:v7.0-16-g9b85f7d961 PowerNV NIP: c000000000194a1c LR: c000000000194a18 CTR: c000000000a78670 REGS: c00000004d2134e0 TRAP: 0700 Tainted: G W (6.2.0-rc2-00011-g1247637727f2) MSR: 9000000000021033 <SF,HV,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 48002824 XER: 00000000 CFAR: c00000000013fb64 IRQMASK: 1 The above warning triggered because the current imc-pmu code uses mutex lock in interrupt disabled sections. The function mutex_lock() internally calls __might_resched(), which will check if IRQs are disabled and in case IRQs are disabled, it will trigger the warning. Fix the issue by changing the mutex lock to spinlock. [mpe: Fix comments, trim oops in change log, add reported-by tags]

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:>= 4.14, < 5.4.229>= 5.5, < 5.10.164>= 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 5.4.229 / 5.10.164 / 5.15.89 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2295.10.1645.15.89
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 5.4.229, 5.10.164, 5.15.89, or 6.1.7 (depending on which branch you are on)

  1. Identify your current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which version range your kernel falls into from the affected versions: >= 4.14, < 5.4.229; >= 5.5, < 5.10.164; >= 5.11, < 5.15.89; or >= 5.16, < 6.1.7
  3. Upgrade to the corresponding fixed release: 5.4.229 or higher for the 4.14/5.4.y branch; 5.10.164 or higher for the 5.10.y branch; 5.15.89 or higher for the 5.15.y branch; or 6.1.7 or higher for the 6.1.y branch
  4. Reboot into the new kernel
  5. Verify the fix by running the trigger command: `perf stat -e thread_imc/CPM_CS_FROM_L4_MEM_X_DPTEG/ sleep 5` and checking dmesg for the sleeping function warning
Caveat Minor - this is a bug fix that changes mutex to spinlock in the powerpc imc-pmu driver; the functional behavior remains the same but the locking mechanism is now appropriate for IRQ-disabled contexts

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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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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