CVE-2023-53706
Vulnerability Scoring
Status: Awaiting Analysis
Published on: 22 Oct 2025, 14:15 UTC
CVSS Release:
CVE-2023-53706: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/vmemmap/devdax: fix kernel crash when probing devdax devices commit 4917f55b4ef9 ("mm/sparse-vmemmap: improve memory savings for compound devmaps") added support for using optimized vmmemap for devdax devices. But how vmemmap mappings are created are architecture specific. For example, powerpc with hash translation doesn't have vmemmap mappings in init_mm page table instead they are bolted table entries in the hardware page table vmemmap_populate_compound_pages() used by vmemmap optimization code is not aware of these architecture-specific mapping. Hence allow architecture to opt for this feature. I selected architectures supporting HUGETLB_PAGE_OPTIMIZE_VMEMMAP option as also supporting this feature. This patch fixes the below crash on ppc64. BUG: Unable to handle kernel data access on write at 0xc00c000100400038 Faulting instruction address: 0xc000000001269d90 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA pSeries Modules linked in: CPU: 7 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 6.3.0-rc5-150500.34-default+ #2 5c90a668b6bbd142599890245c2fb5de19d7d28a Hardware name: IBM,9009-42G POWER9 (raw) 0x4e0202 0xf000005 of:IBM,FW950.40 (VL950_099) hv:phyp pSeries NIP: c000000001269d90 LR: c0000000004c57d4 CTR: 0000000000000000 REGS: c000000003632c30 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (6.3.0-rc5-150500.34-default+) MSR: 8000000000009033 <SF,EE,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 24842228 XER: 00000000 CFAR: c0000000004c57d0 DAR: c00c000100400038 DSISR: 42000000 IRQMASK: 0 .... NIP [c000000001269d90] __init_single_page.isra.74+0x14/0x4c LR [c0000000004c57d4] __init_zone_device_page+0x44/0xd0 Call Trace: [c000000003632ed0] [c000000003632f60] 0xc000000003632f60 (unreliable) [c000000003632f10] [c0000000004c5ca0] memmap_init_zone_device+0x170/0x250 [c000000003632fe0] [c0000000005575f8] memremap_pages+0x2c8/0x7f0 [c0000000036330c0] [c000000000557b5c] devm_memremap_pages+0x3c/0xa0 [c000000003633100] [c000000000d458a8] dev_dax_probe+0x108/0x3e0 [c0000000036331a0] [c000000000d41430] dax_bus_probe+0xb0/0x140 [c0000000036331d0] [c000000000cef27c] really_probe+0x19c/0x520 [c000000003633260] [c000000000cef6b4] __driver_probe_device+0xb4/0x230 [c0000000036332e0] [c000000000cef888] driver_probe_device+0x58/0x120 [c000000003633320] [c000000000cefa6c] __device_attach_driver+0x11c/0x1e0 [c0000000036333a0] [c000000000cebc58] bus_for_each_drv+0xa8/0x130 [c000000003633400] [c000000000ceefcc] __device_attach+0x15c/0x250 [c0000000036334a0] [c000000000ced458] bus_probe_device+0x108/0x110 [c0000000036334f0] [c000000000ce92dc] device_add+0x7fc/0xa10 [c0000000036335b0] [c000000000d447c8] devm_create_dev_dax+0x1d8/0x530 [c000000003633640] [c000000000d46b60] __dax_pmem_probe+0x200/0x270 [c0000000036337b0] [c000000000d46bf0] dax_pmem_probe+0x20/0x70 [c0000000036337d0] [c000000000d2279c] nvdimm_bus_probe+0xac/0x2b0 [c000000003633860] [c000000000cef27c] really_probe+0x19c/0x520 [c0000000036338f0] [c000000000cef6b4] __driver_probe_device+0xb4/0x230 [c000000003633970] [c000000000cef888] driver_probe_device+0x58/0x120 [c0000000036339b0] [c000000000cefd08] __driver_attach+0x1d8/0x240 [c000000003633a30] [c000000000cebb04] bus_for_each_dev+0xb4/0x130 [c000000003633a90] [c000000000cee564] driver_attach+0x34/0x50 [c000000003633ab0] [c000000000ced878] bus_add_driver+0x218/0x300 [c000000003633b40] [c000000000cf1144] driver_register+0xa4/0x1b0 [c000000003633bb0] [c000000000d21a0c] __nd_driver_register+0x5c/0x100 [c000000003633c10] [c00000000206a2e8] dax_pmem_init+0x34/0x48 [c000000003633c30] [c0000000000132d0] do_one_initcall+0x60/0x320 [c000000003633d00] [c0000000020051b0] kernel_init_freeable+0x360/0x400 [c000000003633de0] [c000000000013764] kernel_init+0x34/0x1d0 [c000000003633e50] [c00000000000de14] ret_from_kernel_thread+0x5c/0x64
The exploitability of CVE-2023-53706 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).
No exploitability data is available for CVE-2023-53706.
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-2023-53706, 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-2023-53706, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
Unknown
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