Security assessments indicate that CVE-2023-53029 presents a notable risk, potentially requiring prompt mitigation.
Status: Analyzed
Last updated: 🕡 31 Oct 2025, 18:56 UTC
Originally published on: 🕔 27 Mar 2025, 17:15 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 218 days
CVSS Release: version 3
nvd@nist.gov
Primary
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2023-53029: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: octeontx2-pf: Fix the use of GFP_KERNEL in atomic context on rt The commit 4af1b64f80fb ("octeontx2-pf: Fix lmtst ID used in aura free") uses the get/put_cpu() to protect the usage of percpu pointer in ->aura_freeptr() callback, but it also unnecessarily disable the preemption for the blockable memory allocation. The commit 87b93b678e95 ("octeontx2-pf: Avoid use of GFP_KERNEL in atomic context") tried to fix these sleep inside atomic warnings. But it only fix the one for the non-rt kernel. For the rt kernel, we still get the similar warnings like below. BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/locking/spinlock_rt.c:46 in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 0, non_block: 0, pid: 1, name: swapper/0 preempt_count: 1, expected: 0 RCU nest depth: 0, expected: 0 3 locks held by swapper/0/1: #0: ffff800009fc5fe8 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: rtnl_lock+0x24/0x30 #1: ffff000100c276c0 (&mbox->lock){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: otx2_init_hw_resources+0x8c/0x3a4 #2: ffffffbfef6537e0 (&cpu_rcache->lock){+.+.}-{2:2}, at: alloc_iova_fast+0x1ac/0x2ac Preemption disabled at: [<ffff800008b1908c>] otx2_rq_aura_pool_init+0x14c/0x284 CPU: 20 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G W 6.2.0-rc3-rt1-yocto-preempt-rt #1 Hardware name: Marvell OcteonTX CN96XX board (DT) Call trace: dump_backtrace.part.0+0xe8/0xf4 show_stack+0x20/0x30 dump_stack_lvl+0x9c/0xd8 dump_stack+0x18/0x34 __might_resched+0x188/0x224 rt_spin_lock+0x64/0x110 alloc_iova_fast+0x1ac/0x2ac iommu_dma_alloc_iova+0xd4/0x110 __iommu_dma_map+0x80/0x144 iommu_dma_map_page+0xe8/0x260 dma_map_page_attrs+0xb4/0xc0 __otx2_alloc_rbuf+0x90/0x150 otx2_rq_aura_pool_init+0x1c8/0x284 otx2_init_hw_resources+0xe4/0x3a4 otx2_open+0xf0/0x610 __dev_open+0x104/0x224 __dev_change_flags+0x1e4/0x274 dev_change_flags+0x2c/0x7c ic_open_devs+0x124/0x2f8 ip_auto_config+0x180/0x42c do_one_initcall+0x90/0x4dc do_basic_setup+0x10c/0x14c kernel_init_freeable+0x10c/0x13c kernel_init+0x2c/0x140 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Of course, we can shuffle the get/put_cpu() to only wrap the invocation of ->aura_freeptr() as what commit 87b93b678e95 does. But there are only two ->aura_freeptr() callbacks, otx2_aura_freeptr() and cn10k_aura_freeptr(). There is no usage of perpcu variable in the otx2_aura_freeptr() at all, so the get/put_cpu() seems redundant to it. We can move the get/put_cpu() into the corresponding callback which really has the percpu variable usage and avoid the sprinkling of get/put_cpu() in several places.
The exploitability of CVE-2023-53029 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
CVE-2023-53029 presents an accessible attack vector with minimal effort required. Restricting access controls and implementing security updates are critical to reducing exploitation risks.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2023-53029, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2023-53029, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
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