CVE-2023-53171 — linux / linux_kernel
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
vfio/type1: prevent underflow of locked_vm via exec()
When a vfio container is preserved across exec, the task does not change, but it gets a new mm with locked_vm=0, and loses the count from existing dma mappings. If the user later unmaps a dma mapping, locked_vm underflows to a large unsigned value, and a subsequent dma map request fails with ENOMEM in __account_locked_vm.
To avoid underflow, grab and save the mm at the time a dma is mapped. Use that mm when adjusting locked_vm, rather than re-acquiring the saved task's mm, which may have changed. If the saved mm is dead, do nothing.
locked_vm is incremented for existing mappings in a subsequent patch.
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux / linux_kernel | 3.6 | 5.10.173 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.11 | 5.15.99 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.16 | 6.1.16 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.2 | 6.2.3 |
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/046eca5018f8a5dd1dc2cedf87fb5843b9ea3026
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5a271242716846cc016736fb76be2b40ee49b0c3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a6b2aabe664098d5cf877ae0fd96459464a30e17
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b0790dff0760b7734cf0961f497ad64628ca550b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eafb81c50da899dd80b340c841277acc4a1945b7
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Frequently Asked Questions
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
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