Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2023-53440)
Summary
Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2023-53440). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
nilfs2: fix sysfs interface lifetime
The current nilfs2 sysfs support has issues with the timing of creation
and deletion of sysfs entries, potentially leading to null pointer
dereferences, use-after-free, and lockdep warnings.
Some of the sysfs attributes for nilfs2 per-filesystem instance refer to
metadata file "cpfile", "sufile", or "dat", but
nilfs_sysfs_create_device_group that creates those attributes is executed
before the inodes for these metadata files are loaded, and
nilfs_sysfs_delete_device_group which deletes these sysfs entries is
called after releasing their metadata file inodes.
Therefore, access to some of these sysfs attributes may occur outside of
the lifetime of these metadata files, resulting in inode NULL pointer
dereferences or use-after-free.
In addition, the call to nilfs_sysfs_create_device_group() is made during
the locking period of the semaphore "ns_sem" of nilfs object, so the
shrinker call caused by the memory allocation for the sysfs entries, may
derive lock dependencies "ns_sem" -> (shrinker) -> "locks acquired in
nilfs_evict_inode()".
Since nilfs2 may acquire "ns_sem" deep in the call stack holding other
locks via its error handler __nilfs_error(), this causes lockdep to report
circular locking. This is a false positive and no circular locking
actually occurs as no inodes exist yet when
nilfs_sysfs_create_device_group() is called. Fortunately, the lockdep
warnings can…
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD
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-2023-53440 has been found in Linux kernel.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 7.8/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Linux kernel CVE-2023-53440" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2023-53440 (Linux kernel) — CWE-476 / CVSS v3 7.8
Attack vector: local / no user interaction
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.
A vulnerability (CWE-476) exists in Linux kernel.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Linux kernel.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで Linux kernel を使っているサービスとバージョンを洗い出す。
-
2Post-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
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53440 linux Fixed in: 5.10.178-1
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53440 linux-aws
References
- advisory github.com
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- package git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org