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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53051

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.14.312 / 4.19.280 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: dm crypt: add cond_resched() to dmcrypt_write() The loop in dmcrypt_write may be running for unbounded amount of time, thus we need cond_resched() in it. This commit fixes the following warning: [ 3391.153255][ C12] watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#12 stuck for 23s! [dmcrypt_write/2:2897] ... [ 3391.387210][ C12] Call trace: [ 3391.390338][ C12] blk_attempt_bio_merge.part.6+0x38/0x158 [ 3391.395970][ C12] blk_attempt_plug_merge+0xc0/0x1b0 [ 3391.401085][ C12] blk_mq_submit_bio+0x398/0x550 [ 3391.405856][ C12] submit_bio_noacct+0x308/0x380 [ 3391.410630][ C12] dmcrypt_write+0x1e4/0x208 [dm_crypt] [ 3391.416005][ C12] kthread+0x130/0x138 [ 3391.419911][ C12] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x18

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-835

Crafted input drives a loop whose exit condition is never satisfied, hanging the thread and starving the service of the resource it occupies. A single request can be enough to take a worker down. Remediation is bounding iteration counts and validating the conditions that are supposed to terminate the loop.

General guidance for the infinite loop 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:>= 4.0, < 4.14.312>= 4.15, < 4.19.280>= 4.20, < 5.4.240>= 5.5, < 5.10.177>= 5.11, < 5.15.105>= 5.16, < 6.1.22>= 6.2, < 6.2.9= 6.3

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 4.14.312 / 4.19.280 / 5.4.240 or later
Fixed in 4.14.3124.19.2805.4.240
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

4.14.312, 4.19.280, 5.4.240, or 5.10.177 (whichever branch matches your current kernel)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which version range your current kernel falls into (>= 4.0 < 4.14.312, >= 4.15 < 4.19.280, >= 4.20 < 5.4.240, or >= 5.5 < 5.10.177)
  3. Upgrade to a patched kernel version: 4.14.312 or higher for the 4.14.y branch, 4.19.280 or higher for the 4.19.y branch, 5.4.240 or higher for the 5.4.y branch, or 5.10.177 or higher for the 5.10.y branch or later
  4. On Debian/Ubuntu: `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade` or install specific kernel package
  5. On RHEL/CentOS: `sudo yum update kernel`
  6. On Fedora: `sudo dnf update kernel`
  7. Reboot into the new kernel using `sudo reboot`
  8. Verify the fix is applied by checking the dmcrypt_write function contains cond_resched() in the kernel source or by running the system without experiencing soft lockups
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting services; ensure proper downtime planning and backup procedures are in place

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-2023-53051 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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