Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2023-53624
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: net/sched: sch_fq: fix integer overflow of "credit" if sch_fq is configured with "initial quantum" having values greater than INT_MAX, the first assignment of "credit" does signed integer overflow to a very negative value. In this situation, the syzkaller script provided by Cristoph triggers the CPU soft-lockup warning even with few sockets. It's not an infinite loop, but "credit" wasn't probably meant to be minus 2Gb for each new flow. Capping "initial quantum" to INT_MAX proved to fix the issue. v2: validation of "initial quantum" is done in fq_policy, instead of open coding in fq_change() _ suggested by Jakub Kicinski
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 analysisAn arithmetic operation produces a value too large for its type and wraps around to an unexpected — often tiny or negative — number. That miscalculated value then drives a memory allocation or a bounds check, opening the door to corruption. The fix is checked arithmetic and validating sizes before they're used.
General guidance for the integer overflow 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
>= 3.12, < 5.10.180>= 5.11, < 5.15.111>= 5.16, < 6.1.28>= 6.2, < 6.2.15>= 6.3, < 6.3.2CVSS 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 · scoped5.10.1805.15.1116.1.28
Upgrade to kernel 5.10.180+, 5.15.111+, 6.1.28+, or 6.2.15+ (depending on your stable branch preference)
- 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- 2. Check if the running version falls within affected ranges: >= 3.12 and < 5.10.180, >= 5.11 and < 5.15.111, >= 5.16 and < 6.1.28, or >= 6.2 and < 6.2.15
- 3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a patched version: 5.10.180 or later, 5.15.111 or later, 6.1.28 or later, or 6.2.15 or later
- 4. For distribution kernels, apply vendor-provided security updates that include the fix (commit 2322462d6f9ad4874f4e3c63df3b5cc00cb1acbd)
- 5. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
- 6. Verify the fix by checking that 'initial quantum' values are now capped at INT_MAX in the fq_policy validation
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-2023-53624 — 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-2023-53624 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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