VDB

CVE-2023-53171

CVE-2023-53171 PUBLISHED

vfio/type1: prevent underflow of locked_vm via exec()

Reported by linux · Published September 15, 2025

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.

EPSS 0.16% · 5.0th percentile

Fixed versions

Upgrade to a fixed version or later. Language registries are listed first, then Linux distributions, then vendor products.

PackageEcosystemFixed in
kernel-develAmazon Linux6.1.19-30.43.amzn2023
kernel-toolsAmazon Linux6.1.19-30.43.amzn2023
bpftoolAmazon Linux6.1.19-30.43.amzn2023
perfAmazon Linux6.1.19-30.43.amzn2023
linux_kernellinux6.2.3, 6.1.16, 5.15.99, 5.10.173

Risk scores

EPSS Score
0.16%
5.0th percentile

Affected products

VendorProductVersions
LinuxLinux73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336, 73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336, 73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336
LinuxLinux3.6, 0, 5.10.173
amazon:2023kernel-devel0
amazon:2023kernel-tools0
amazon:2023bpftool0
amazon:2023perf0
linuxlinux_kernel3.6, 3.6, 3.6
amazon:2023kernel0
amazon:2023kernel-libbpf-devel0
amazon:2023kernel-tools-devel0
amazon:2023kernel-headers0
LinuxLinux6.1.16, 6.3, 0
amazon:2023kernel-livepatch-6.1.19-30.430
amazon:2023kernel-libbpf0
amazon:2023kernel-libbpf-static0
amazon:2023python3-perf0

Timeline

  • Sep 15, 2025 CVE Published
  • Sep 16, 2025 EPSS Score (30 in total, the first dated here)
  • Oct 4, 2025 Coalition ESS Score (3 in total, the first dated here)
  • Oct 21, 2025 PoC Published
  • Jan 25, 2026 Security Advisory (81 in total, the first dated here)
  • Nov 2, 2026 Distribution Patch (58 in total, the first dated here)

Query this with the API

The same record, from the CLI:

vulnetix vdb vuln CVE-2023-53171
vulnetix vdb fixes CVE-2023-53171

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curl -s -H "Authorization: ApiKey ${VULNETIX_ORG_ID}:${VULNETIX_API_KEY}" \
  "https://api.vdb.vulnetix.com/v2/vuln/CVE-2023-53171/fixes/registry"

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References

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