Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2023-53522)

Summary

Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2023-53522). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Mitigation: upgrade to 6.1.25, 6.2.12 or later.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

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

cgroup,freezer: hold cpu_hotplug_lock before freezer_mutex

syzbot is reporting circular locking dependency between cpu_hotplug_lock
and freezer_mutex, for commit f5d39b020809 ("freezer,sched: Rewrite core
freezer logic") replaced atomic_inc() in freezer_apply_state() with
static_branch_inc() which holds cpu_hotplug_lock.

cpu_hotplug_lock => cgroup_threadgroup_rwsem => freezer_mutex

cgroup_file_write() {
cgroup_procs_write() {
__cgroup_procs_write() {
cgroup_procs_write_start() {
cgroup_attach_lock() {
cpus_read_lock() {
percpu_down_read(&cpu_hotplug_lock);
}
percpu_down_write(&cgroup_threadgroup_rwsem);
}
}
cgroup_attach_task() {
cgroup_migrate() {
cgroup_migrate_execute() {
freezer_attach() {
mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex);
(...snipped...)
}
}
}
}
(...snipped...)
}
}
}

freezer_mutex => cpu_hotplug_lock

cgroup_file_write() {
freezer_write() {
freezer_change_state() {
mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex);
freezer_apply_state() {
static_branch_inc(&freezer_active) {
static_key_slow_inc() {
cpus_read_lock();
static_key_slow_inc_cpuslocked();
cpus_read_unlock();
}
}
}…

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-2023-53522 has been found in Kernel.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
What to do: upgrade Kernel to 6.1.25, 6.2.12 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Kernel CVE-2023-53522" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2023-53522 (Kernel)
Patched: 6.1.25, 6.2.12 — 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.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Kernel.

🔥 Severity

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

🔧 How to fix

Update to 6.1.25, 6.2.12.

🛡️ 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 6.1.25, 6.2.12
```
ステージング環境で 6.1.25, 6.2.12 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":"6.1.0"},{"fixed":"6.1.25"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.2.0"},{"fixed":"6.2.12"}]}]

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53522 linux Fixed in: 6.1.25-1