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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53090

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.279 / 5.4.238 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
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/amdkfd: Fix an illegal memory access In the kfd_wait_on_events() function, the kfd_event_waiter structure is allocated by alloc_event_waiters(), but the event field of the waiter structure is not initialized; When copy_from_user() fails in the kfd_wait_on_events() function, it will enter exception handling to release the previously allocated memory of the waiter structure; Due to the event field of the waiters structure being accessed in the free_waiters() function, this results in illegal memory access and system crash, here is the crash log: localhost kernel: RIP: 0010:native_queued_spin_lock_slowpath+0x185/0x1e0 localhost kernel: RSP: 0018:ffffaa53c362bd60 EFLAGS: 00010082 localhost kernel: RAX: ff3d3d6bff4007cb RBX: 0000000000000282 RCX: 00000000002c0000 localhost kernel: RDX: ffff9e855eeacb80 RSI: 000000000000279c RDI: ffffe7088f6a21d0 localhost kernel: RBP: ffffe7088f6a21d0 R08: 00000000002c0000 R09: ffffaa53c362be64 localhost kernel: R10: ffffaa53c362bbd8 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000002 localhost kernel: R13: ffff9e7ead15d600 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff9e7ead15d698 localhost kernel: FS: 0000152a3d111700(0000) GS:ffff9e855ee80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 localhost kernel: CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 localhost kernel: CR2: 0000152938000010 CR3: 000000044d7a4000 CR4: 00000000003506e0 localhost kernel: Call Trace: localhost kernel: _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x30/0x40 localhost kernel: remove_wait_queue+0x12/0x50 localhost kernel: kfd_wait_on_events+0x1b6/0x490 [hydcu] localhost kernel: ? ftrace_graph_caller+0xa0/0xa0 localhost kernel: kfd_ioctl+0x38c/0x4a0 [hydcu] localhost kernel: ? kfd_ioctl_set_trap_handler+0x70/0x70 [hydcu] localhost kernel: ? kfd_ioctl_create_queue+0x5a0/0x5a0 [hydcu] localhost kernel: ? ftrace_graph_caller+0xa0/0xa0 localhost kernel: __x64_sys_ioctl+0x8e/0xd0 localhost kernel: ? syscall_trace_enter.isra.18+0x143/0x1b0 localhost kernel: do_syscall_64+0x33/0x80 localhost kernel: entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9 localhost kernel: RIP: 0033:0x152a4dff68d7 Allocate the structure with kcalloc, and remove redundant 0-initialization and a redundant loop condition check.

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-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read 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:>= 3.19, < 4.19.279>= 4.20, < 5.4.238>= 5.5, < 5.10.176>= 5.11, < 5.15.104>= 5.16, < 6.1.21>= 6.2, < 6.2.8

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 4.19.279 / 5.4.238 / 5.10.176 or later
Fixed in 4.19.2795.4.2385.10.176
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 4.19.279 / 5.4.238 / 5.10.176 / 5.15.104 or later (specific to your current major version branch)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Download and install a kernel version from one of the fixed release branches: 4.19.279+, 5.4.238+, 5.10.176+, or 5.15.104+
  3. For RHEL/CentOS systems: use `yum update kernel` or `dnf update kernel` to install the latest stable kernel from the enabled repositories
  4. For Debian/Ubuntu systems: use `apt-get install linux-image-<version>` to install a patched kernel from the distribution repositories
  5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel using `reboot`
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version with `uname -r` and confirming it meets or exceeds the minimum fixed version for your branch
  7. Alternatively, apply the upstream commit 2fece63b55c5d74cd6f5de51159c2cde37e10555 directly to your kernel source and rebuild the amdgpu kernel module
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching kernel module updates; ensure all dependent drivers (especially AMDGPU/proprietary drivers) are compatible with the new kernel version

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 $3,200. 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-2023-53090 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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