dbcve.org
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53108

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.14.311 / 4.19.279 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/iucv: Fix size of interrupt data iucv_irq_data needs to be 4 bytes larger. These bytes are not used by the iucv module, but written by the z/VM hypervisor in case a CPU is deconfigured. Reported as: BUG dma-kmalloc-64 (Not tainted): kmalloc Redzone overwritten ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0x0000000000400564-0x0000000000400567 @offset=1380. First byte 0x80 instead of 0xcc Allocated in iucv_cpu_prepare+0x44/0xd0 age=167839 cpu=2 pid=1 __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x166/0x450 kmalloc_node_trace+0x3a/0x70 iucv_cpu_prepare+0x44/0xd0 cpuhp_invoke_callback+0x156/0x2f0 cpuhp_issue_call+0xf0/0x298 __cpuhp_setup_state_cpuslocked+0x136/0x338 __cpuhp_setup_state+0xf4/0x288 iucv_init+0xf4/0x280 do_one_initcall+0x78/0x390 do_initcalls+0x11a/0x140 kernel_init_freeable+0x25e/0x2a0 kernel_init+0x2e/0x170 __ret_from_fork+0x3c/0x58 ret_from_fork+0xa/0x40 Freed in iucv_init+0x92/0x280 age=167839 cpu=2 pid=1 __kmem_cache_free+0x308/0x358 iucv_init+0x92/0x280 do_one_initcall+0x78/0x390 do_initcalls+0x11a/0x140 kernel_init_freeable+0x25e/0x2a0 kernel_init+0x2e/0x170 __ret_from_fork+0x3c/0x58 ret_from_fork+0xa/0x40 Slab 0x0000037200010000 objects=32 used=30 fp=0x0000000000400640 flags=0x1ffff00000010200(slab|head|node=0|zone=0| Object 0x0000000000400540 @offset=1344 fp=0x0000000000000000 Redzone 0000000000400500: cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc ................ Redzone 0000000000400510: cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc ................ Redzone 0000000000400520: cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc ................ Redzone 0000000000400530: cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc ................ Object 0000000000400540: 00 01 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ Object 0000000000400550: f3 86 81 f2 f4 82 f8 82 f0 f0 f0 f0 f0 f0 f0 f2 ................ Object 0000000000400560: 00 00 00 00 80 00 00 00 cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc ................ Object 0000000000400570: cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc ................ Redzone 0000000000400580: cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc ........ Padding 00000000004005d4: 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Padding 00000000004005e4: 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Padding 00000000004005f4: 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a 5a ZZZZZZZZZZZZ CPU: 6 PID: 121030 Comm: 116-pai-crypto. Not tainted 6.3.0-20230221.rc0.git4.99b8246b2d71.300.fc37.s390x+debug #1 Hardware name: IBM 3931 A01 704 (z/VM 7.3.0) Call Trace: [<000000032aa034ec>] dump_stack_lvl+0xac/0x100 [<0000000329f5a6cc>] check_bytes_and_report+0x104/0x140 [<0000000329f5aa78>] check_object+0x370/0x3c0 [<0000000329f5ede6>] free_debug_processing+0x15e/0x348 [<0000000329f5f06a>] free_to_partial_list+0x9a/0x2f0 [<0000000329f5f4a4>] __slab_free+0x1e4/0x3a8 [<0000000329f61768>] __kmem_cache_free+0x308/0x358 [<000000032a91465c>] iucv_cpu_dead+0x6c/0x88 [<0000000329c2fc66>] cpuhp_invoke_callback+0x156/0x2f0 [<000000032aa062da>] _cpu_down.constprop.0+0x22a/0x5e0 [<0000000329c3243e>] cpu_device_down+0x4e/0x78 [<000000032a61dee0>] device_offline+0xc8/0x118 [<000000032a61e048>] online_store+0x60/0xe0 [<000000032a08b6b0>] kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x150/0x1e8 [<0000000329fab65c>] vfs_write+0x174/0x360 [<0000000329fab9fc>] ksys_write+0x74/0x100 [<000000032aa03a5a>] __do_syscall+0x1da/0x208 [<000000032aa177b2>] system_call+0x82/0xb0 INFO: lockdep is turned off. FIX dma-kmalloc-64: Restoring kmalloc Redzone 0x0000000000400564-0x0000000000400567=0xcc FIX dma-kmalloc-64: Object at 0x0000000000400540 not freed

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:>= 2.6.21, < 4.14.311>= 4.15, < 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= 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 4.14.311 / 4.19.279 / 5.4.238 or later
Fixed in 4.14.3114.19.2795.4.238
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

4.14.311+ / 4.19.279+ / 5.4.238+ / 5.10.176+ (choose the appropriate stable branch)

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which stable kernel branch you're on from the affected versions (4.14.x, 4.19.x, 5.4.x, or 5.10.x)
  3. Upgrade to a kernel version >= 4.14.311, 4.19.279, 5.4.238, or 5.10.176 depending on your branch
  4. Apply the vendor-supplied kernel update via package manager (e.g., `apt update && apt upgrade`, `yum update`, or distribution-specific kernel update)
  5. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches one of the fixed releases
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with custom modules or specific hardware drivers; test in staging 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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-53108 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-53108 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data