Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2023-53791)

Summary

Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2023-53791). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Mitigation: upgrade to 6.5.5 or later.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

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

md: fix warning for holder mismatch from export_rdev()

Commit a1d767191096 ("md: use mddev->external to select holder in
export_rdev()") fix the problem that 'claim_rdev' is used for
blkdev_get_by_dev() while 'rdev' is used for blkdev_put().

However, if mddev->external is changed from 0 to 1, then 'rdev' is used
for blkdev_get_by_dev() while 'claim_rdev' is used for blkdev_put(). And
this problem can be reporduced reliably by following:

New file: mdadm/tests/23rdev-lifetime

devname=${dev0##*/}
devt=cat /sys/block/$devname/dev
pid=""
runtime=2

clean_up_test() {
pill -9 $pid
echo clear > /sys/block/md0/md/array_state
}

trap 'clean_up_test' EXIT

add_by_sysfs() {
while true; do
echo $devt > /sys/block/md0/md/new_dev
done
}

remove_by_sysfs(){
while true; do
echo remove > /sys/block/md0/md/dev-${devname}/state
done
}

echo md0 > /sys/module/md_mod/parameters/new_array || die "create md0 failed"

add_by_sysfs &
pid="$pid $!"

remove_by_sysfs &
pid="$pid $!"

sleep $runtime
exit 0

Test cmd:

./test --save-logs --logdir=/tmp/ --keep-going --dev=loop --tests=23rdev-lifetime

Test result:

------------[ cut here ]------------
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 960 at block/bdev.c:618 blkdev_put+0x27c/0x330
Modules linked in: multipath md_mod loop
CPU: 0 PID: 960 Comm: test Not tainted 6.5.0-rc2-00121-g01e55c376936-dirty #50
RIP: 0010:blkdev_pu…

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-2023-53791 has been found in Kernel.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
What to do: upgrade Kernel to 6.5.5 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Kernel CVE-2023-53791" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2023-53791 (Kernel)
Patched: 6.5.5 — 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.

❓ 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 6.5.5.

🛡️ 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 6.5.5
```
ステージング環境で 6.5.5 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。
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":"6.5.0"},{"fixed":"6.5.5"}]}]

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53791 linux Fixed in: 6.5.6-1
Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53791 linux