Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2023-52842)

Summary

Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2023-52842). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Exploitable via buf_alloc. Mitigation: upgrade to 6.6.2 or later.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

virtio/vsock: Fix uninit-value in virtio_transport_recv_pkt()

KMSAN reported the following uninit-value access issue:

=====================================================
BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in virtio_transport_recv_pkt+0x1dfb/0x26a0 net/vmw_vsock/virtio_transport_common.c:1421
virtio_transport_recv_pkt+0x1dfb/0x26a0 net/vmw_vsock/virtio_transport_common.c:1421
vsock_loopback_work+0x3bb/0x5a0 net/vmw_vsock/vsock_loopback.c:120
process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:2630 [inline]
process_scheduled_works+0xff6/0x1e60 kernel/workqueue.c:2703
worker_thread+0xeca/0x14d0 kernel/workqueue.c:2784
kthread+0x3cc/0x520 kernel/kthread.c:388
ret_from_fork+0x66/0x80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147
ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:304

Uninit was stored to memory at:
virtio_transport_space_update net/vmw_vsock/virtio_transport_common.c:1274 [inline]
virtio_transport_recv_pkt+0x1ee8/0x26a0 net/vmw_vsock/virtio_transport_common.c:1415
vsock_loopback_work+0x3bb/0x5a0 net/vmw_vsock/vsock_loopback.c:120
process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:2630 [inline]
process_scheduled_works+0xff6/0x1e60 kernel/workqueue.c:2703
worker_thread+0xeca/0x14d0 kernel/workqueue.c:2784
kthread+0x3cc/0x520 kernel/kthread.c:388
ret_from_fork+0x66/0x80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147
ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:304

Uninit was created at:
slab_post_alloc_hook+0x105/0xad0 mm/slab.h:767
sla…

Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD OSV

Auto-generated summary

Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.

A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-52842 has been found in Kernel.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like buf_alloc over the network to misuse the product.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
What to do: upgrade Kernel to 6.6.2 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Kernel CVE-2023-52842" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2023-52842 (Kernel)
Attack surface: buf_alloc / fwd_cnt
Patched: 6.6.2 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in Kernel. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via buf_alloc.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Kernel. Attack surface: buf_alloc / fwd_cnt.

🔥 Severity

Severity: ?. Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.

🔧 How to fix

Update to 6.6.2.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'Kernel' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.

Response actions

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

1
Identify exposure identify
```
grep -r 'Kernel' . | grep -v node_modules
```
リポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で Kernel を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。
2
Apply patch patch
```
Upgrade Kernel to 6.6.2
```
ステージング環境で 6.6.2 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
3
Post-deployment verification verify
```
Confirm patched version is live in production
```
パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

Affected packages

Linux Kernel

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.3.0"},{"fixed":"6.6.2"}]}]

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52842 linux Fixed in: 6.1.64-1