CVE-2023-53208
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: nSVM: Load L1's TSC multiplier based on L1 state, not L2 state When emulating nested VM-Exit, load L1's TSC multiplier if L1's desired ratio doesn't match the current ratio, not if the ratio L1 is using for L2 diverges from the default. Functionally, the end result is the same as KVM will run L2 with L1's multiplier if L2's multiplier is the default, i.e. checking that L1's multiplier is loaded is equivalent to checking if L2 has a non-default multiplier. However, the assertion that TSC scaling is exposed to L1 is flawed, as userspace can trigger the WARN at will by writing the MSR and then updating guest CPUID to hide the feature (modifying guest CPUID is allowed anytime before KVM_RUN). E.g. hacking KVM's state_test selftest to do vcpu_set_msr(vcpu, MSR_AMD64_TSC_RATIO, 0); vcpu_clear_cpuid_feature(vcpu, X86_FEATURE_TSCRATEMSR); after restoring state in a new VM+vCPU yields an endless supply of: ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 10 PID: 206939 at arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c:1105 nested_svm_vmexit+0x6af/0x720 [kvm_amd] Call Trace: nested_svm_exit_handled+0x102/0x1f0 [kvm_amd] svm_handle_exit+0xb9/0x180 [kvm_amd] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x1eab/0x2570 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x4c9/0x5b0 [kvm] ? trace_hardirqs_off+0x4d/0xa0 __se_sys_ioctl+0x7a/0xc0 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x21/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x41/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd Unlike the nested VMRUN path, hoisting the svm->tsc_scaling_enabled check into the if-statement is wrong as KVM needs to ensure L1's multiplier is loaded in the above scenario. Alternatively, the WARN_ON() could simply be deleted, but that would make KVM's behavior even more subtle, e.g. it's not immediately obvious why it's safe to write MSR_AMD64_TSC_RATIO when checking only tsc_ratio_msr.
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 analysisA 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>= 5.16, < 6.1.54>= 6.2, < 6.5.4CVSS 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 · scoped6.1.546.5.4
6.1.54+ or 6.5.4+ (depending on which major.minor branch is in use)
- Identify current kernel version using 'uname -r'
- For systems running kernel 6.1.x: upgrade to kernel 6.1.54 or later
- For systems running kernel 6.2.x, 6.3.x, or 6.4.x: upgrade to kernel 6.5.4 or later
- After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-53208 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53208 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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