Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53259

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.296 / 5.10.240 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: VMCI: check context->notify_page after call to get_user_pages_fast() to avoid GPF The call to get_user_pages_fast() in vmci_host_setup_notify() can return NULL context->notify_page causing a GPF. To avoid GPF check if context->notify_page == NULL and return error if so. general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xe0009d1000000060: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: maybe wild-memory-access in range [0x0005088000000300- 0x0005088000000307] CPU: 2 PID: 26180 Comm: repro_34802241 Not tainted 6.1.0-rc4 #1 Hardware name: Red Hat KVM, BIOS 1.15.0-2.module+el8.6.0 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:vmci_ctx_check_signal_notify+0x91/0xe0 Call Trace: <TASK> vmci_host_unlocked_ioctl+0x362/0x1f40 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x1a1/0x230 do_syscall_64+0x3a/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

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:>= 4.0, < 5.4.296>= 5.5, < 5.10.240>= 5.11, < 5.15.99>= 5.16, < 6.1.16>= 6.2, < 6.2.3
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

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 5.4.296 / 5.10.240 / 5.15.99 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2965.10.2405.15.99
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Linux kernel >= 5.4.296 (5.4.x branch), >= 5.10.240 (5.10.x branch), >= 5.15.99 (5.15.x branch), or >= 6.1.16 (6.1.x branch). For Debian 11, install Debian kernel from buster-security or bullseye-updates, or consider upgrading to Debian 12 for longer term support.

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. For Debian 11 (Bullseye), check for available kernel updates via `apt update && apt list --upgradable`
  3. Upgrade the kernel package: `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install linux-image-<version>` (replace <version> with the latest available fixed version)
  4. Reboot the system to load the new kernel: `sudo reboot`
  5. Verify the new kernel version after reboot with `uname -r` and confirm it is >= 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.99, or 6.1.16 as appropriate for your branch
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting the system and could introduce compatibility issues with custom kernel modules or specific hardware drivers. Ensure critical applications are tested against the new kernel before production deployment.

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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2023-53259 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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