Highly exploitable, CVE-2023-53860 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.
Status: Deferred
Last updated: 🕙 04 Aug 2026, 10:19 UTC
Originally published on: 🕓 09 Dec 2025, 16:17 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 237 days
CVSS Release: version 3
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2023-53860: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm: don't attempt to queue IO under RCU protection dm looks up the table for IO based on the request type, with an assumption that if the request is marked REQ_NOWAIT, it's fine to attempt to submit that IO while under RCU read lock protection. This is not OK, as REQ_NOWAIT just means that we should not be sleeping waiting on other IO, it does not mean that we can't potentially schedule. A simple test case demonstrates this quite nicely: int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { struct iovec iov; int fd; fd = open("/dev/dm-0", O_RDONLY | O_DIRECT); posix_memalign(&iov.iov_base, 4096, 4096); iov.iov_len = 4096; preadv2(fd, &iov, 1, 0, RWF_NOWAIT); return 0; } which will instantly spew: BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at include/linux/sched/mm.h:306 in_atomic(): 0, irqs_disabled(): 0, non_block: 0, pid: 5580, name: dm-nowait preempt_count: 0, expected: 0 RCU nest depth: 1, expected: 0 INFO: lockdep is turned off. CPU: 7 PID: 5580 Comm: dm-nowait Not tainted 6.6.0-rc1-g39956d2dcd81 #132 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.2-debian-1.16.2-1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x11d/0x1b0 __might_resched+0x3c3/0x5e0 ? preempt_count_sub+0x150/0x150 mempool_alloc+0x1e2/0x390 ? mempool_resize+0x7d0/0x7d0 ? lock_sync+0x190/0x190 ? lock_release+0x4b7/0x670 ? internal_get_user_pages_fast+0x868/0x2d40 bio_alloc_bioset+0x417/0x8c0 ? bvec_alloc+0x200/0x200 ? internal_get_user_pages_fast+0xb8c/0x2d40 bio_alloc_clone+0x53/0x100 dm_submit_bio+0x27f/0x1a20 ? lock_release+0x4b7/0x670 ? blk_try_enter_queue+0x1a0/0x4d0 ? dm_dax_direct_access+0x260/0x260 ? rcu_is_watching+0x12/0xb0 ? blk_try_enter_queue+0x1cc/0x4d0 __submit_bio+0x239/0x310 ? __bio_queue_enter+0x700/0x700 ? kvm_clock_get_cycles+0x40/0x60 ? ktime_get+0x285/0x470 submit_bio_noacct_nocheck+0x4d9/0xb80 ? should_fail_request+0x80/0x80 ? preempt_count_sub+0x150/0x150 ? lock_release+0x4b7/0x670 ? __bio_add_page+0x143/0x2d0 ? iov_iter_revert+0x27/0x360 submit_bio_noacct+0x53e/0x1b30 submit_bio_wait+0x10a/0x230 ? submit_bio_wait_endio+0x40/0x40 __blkdev_direct_IO_simple+0x4f8/0x780 ? blkdev_bio_end_io+0x4c0/0x4c0 ? stack_trace_save+0x90/0xc0 ? __bio_clone+0x3c0/0x3c0 ? lock_release+0x4b7/0x670 ? lock_sync+0x190/0x190 ? atime_needs_update+0x3bf/0x7e0 ? timestamp_truncate+0x21b/0x2d0 ? inode_owner_or_capable+0x240/0x240 blkdev_direct_IO.part.0+0x84a/0x1810 ? rcu_is_watching+0x12/0xb0 ? lock_release+0x4b7/0x670 ? blkdev_read_iter+0x40d/0x530 ? reacquire_held_locks+0x4e0/0x4e0 ? __blkdev_direct_IO_simple+0x780/0x780 ? rcu_is_watching+0x12/0xb0 ? __mark_inode_dirty+0x297/0xd50 ? preempt_count_add+0x72/0x140 blkdev_read_iter+0x2a4/0x530 do_iter_readv_writev+0x2f2/0x3c0 ? generic_copy_file_range+0x1d0/0x1d0 ? fsnotify_perm.part.0+0x25d/0x630 ? security_file_permission+0xd8/0x100 do_iter_read+0x31b/0x880 ? import_iovec+0x10b/0x140 vfs_readv+0x12d/0x1a0 ? vfs_iter_read+0xb0/0xb0 ? rcu_is_watching+0x12/0xb0 ? rcu_is_watching+0x12/0xb0 ? lock_release+0x4b7/0x670 do_preadv+0x1b3/0x260 ? do_readv+0x370/0x370 __x64_sys_preadv2+0xef/0x150 do_syscall_64+0x39/0xb0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd RIP: 0033:0x7f5af41ad806 Code: 41 54 41 89 fc 55 44 89 c5 53 48 89 cb 48 83 ec 18 80 3d e4 dd 0d 00 00 74 7a 45 89 c1 49 89 ca 45 31 c0 b8 47 01 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 00 f0 ff ff 0f 87 be 00 00 00 48 85 c0 79 4a 48 8b 0d da 55 RSP: 002b:00007ffd3145c7f0 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000147 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f5af41ad806 RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 00007ffd3145c850 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 0000000000000008 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000008 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000003 R13: 00007ffd3145c850 R14: 000055f5f0431dd8 R15: 0000000000000001 </TASK> where in fact it is ---truncated---
The exploitability of CVE-2023-53860 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-2023-53860 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-2023-53860, 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-2023-53860, 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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