Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2023-53557)
Summary
Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2023-53557). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Mitigation: upgrade to 6.1.40, 6.4.5 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
fprobe: Release rethook after the ftrace_ops is unregistered
While running bpf selftests it's possible to get following fault:
general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address
0x6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP DEBUG_PAGEALLOC NOPTI
...
Call Trace:
fprobe_handler+0xc1/0x270
? __pfx_bpf_testmod_init+0x10/0x10
? __pfx_bpf_testmod_init+0x10/0x10
? bpf_fentry_test1+0x5/0x10
? bpf_fentry_test1+0x5/0x10
? bpf_testmod_init+0x22/0x80
? do_one_initcall+0x63/0x2e0
? rcu_is_watching+0xd/0x40
? kmalloc_trace+0xaf/0xc0
? do_init_module+0x60/0x250
? __do_sys_finit_module+0xac/0x120
? do_syscall_64+0x37/0x90
? entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc
In unregister_fprobe function we can't release fp->rethook while it's
possible there are some of its users still running on another cpu.
Moving rethook_free call after fp->ops is unregistered with
unregister_ftrace_function call.
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-2023-53557 has been found in Kernel.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 7.8/10.
What to do: upgrade Kernel to 6.1.40, 6.4.5 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Kernel CVE-2023-53557" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2023-53557 (Kernel) — CVSS v3 7.8
Attack vector: local / no user interaction
Patched: 6.1.40, 6.4.5 — 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.
A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in Kernel.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Kernel.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to 6.1.40, 6.4.5.
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. 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
-
1Identify 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。 -
2Apply patch patch
Upgrade Kernel to 6.1.40, 6.4.5ステージング環境で 6.1.40, 6.4.5 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。
-
3Post-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-2023-53557 linux Fixed in: 6.1.52-1
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53557 linux-hwe-edge
References
- advisory github.com
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- package git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org