srcu: Delegate work to the boot cpu if using SRCU_SIZE_SMALL
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: srcu: Delegate work to the boot cpu if using SRCU_SIZE_SMALL Commit 994f706872e6 ("srcu: Make Tree SRCU able to operate without snp_node array") assumes that cpu 0 is always online. However, there really are situations when some other CPU is the boot CPU, for example, when booting a kdump kernel with the maxcpus=1 boot parameter. On PowerPC, the kdump kernel can hang as follows: ... [ 1.740036] systemd[1]: Hostname set to <xyz.com> [ 243.686240] INFO: task systemd:1 blocked for more than 122 seconds. [ 243.686264] Not tainted 6.1.0-rc1 #1 [ 243.686272] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. [ 243.686281] task:systemd state:D stack:0 pid:1 ppid:0 flags:0x00042000 [ 243.686296] Call Trace: [ 243.686301] [c000000016657640] [c000000016657670] 0xc000000016657670 (unreliable) [ 243.686317] [c000000016657830] [c00000001001dec0] __switch_to+0x130/0x220 [ 243.686333] [c000000016657890] [c000000010f607b8] __schedule+0x1f8/0x580 [ 243.686347] [c000000016657940] [c000000010f60bb4] schedule+0x74/0x140 [ 243.686361] [c0000000166579b0] [c000000010f699b8] schedule_timeout+0x168/0x1c0 [ 243.686374] [c000000016657a80] [c000000010f61de8] __wait_for_common+0x148/0x360 [ 243.686387] [c000000016657b20] [c000000010176bb0] __flush_work.isra.0+0x1c0/0x3d0 [ 243.686401] [c000000016657bb0] [c0000000105f2768] fsnotify_wait_marks_destroyed+0x28/0x40 [ 243.686415] [c000000016657bd0] [c0000000105f21b8] fsnotify_destroy_group+0x68/0x160 [ 243.686428] [c000000016657c40] [c0000000105f6500] inotify_release+0x30/0xa0 [ 243.686440] [c000000016657cb0] [c0000000105751a8] __fput+0xc8/0x350 [ 243.686452] [c000000016657d00] [c00000001017d524] task_work_run+0xe4/0x170 [ 243.686464] [c000000016657d50] [c000000010020e94] do_notify_resume+0x134/0x140 [ 243.686478] [c000000016657d80] [c00000001002eb18] interrupt_exit_user_prepare_main+0x198/0x270 [ 243.686493] [c000000016657de0] [c00000001002ec60] syscall_exit_prepare+0x70/0x180 [ 243.686505] [c000000016657e10] [c00000001000bf7c] system_call_vectored_common+0xfc/0x280 [ 243.686520] --- interrupt: 3000 at 0x7fffa47d5ba4 [ 243.686528] NIP: 00007fffa47d5ba4 LR: 0000000000000000 CTR: 0000000000000000 [ 243.686538] REGS: c000000016657e80 TRAP: 3000 Not tainted (6.1.0-rc1) [ 243.686548] MSR: 800000000000d033 <SF,EE,PR,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 42044440 XER: 00000000 [ 243.686572] IRQMASK: 0 [ 243.686572] GPR00: 0000000000000006 00007ffffa606710 00007fffa48e7200 0000000000000000 [ 243.686572] GPR04: 0000000000000002 000000000000000a 0000000000000000 0000000000000001 [ 243.686572] GPR08: 000001000c172dd0 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 [ 243.686572] GPR12: 0000000000000000 00007fffa4ff4bc0 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 [ 243.686572] GPR16: 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 [ 243.686572] GPR20: 0000000132dfdc50 000000000000000e 0000000000189375 0000000000000000 [ 243.686572] GPR24: 00007ffffa606ae0 0000000000000005 000001000c185490 000001000c172570 [ 243.686572] GPR28: 000001000c172990 000001000c184850 000001000c172e00 00007fffa4fedd98 [ 243.686683] NIP [00007fffa47d5ba4] 0x7fffa47d5ba4 [ 243.686691] LR [0000000000000000] 0x0 [ 243.686698] --- interrupt: 3000 [ 243.686708] INFO: task kworker/u16:1:24 blocked for more than 122 seconds. [ 243.686717] Not tainted 6.1.0-rc1 #1 [ 243.686724] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. [ 243.686733] task:kworker/u16:1 state:D stack:0 pid:24 ppid:2 flags:0x00000800 [ 243.686747] Workqueue: events_unbound fsnotify_mark_destroy_workfn [ 243.686758] Call Trace: [ 243.686762] [c0000000166736e0] [c00000004fd91000] 0xc00000004fd91000 (unreliable) [ 243.686775] [c0000000166738d0] [c00000001001dec0] __switch_to+0x130/0x220 [ 243.686788] [c000000016673930] [c000000010f607b8] __schedule+0x1f8/0x ---truncated---
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.16, 6.2.3, 6.3
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2023:6583 Released 2023-11-07 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, libperf-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +11
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) bpftool-7.2.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +29
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +11
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-53671
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-9qc3-f88f-6rgp
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2023-53671 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-53671 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-9qc3-f88f-6rgp · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-53671 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences