medium 5.5

CVE-2023-52803 json

SUNRPC: Fix RPC client cleaned up the freed pipefs dentries

published 2024-05-21 2 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2023-59520

cvss: 5.5; version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 0.2%; EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 14%
public exploits: 0; none known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

RPC client pipefs dentries cleanup is in separated rpc_remove_pipedir() workqueue,which takes care about pipefs superblock locking. In some special scenarios, when kernel frees the pipefs sb of the current client and immediately alloctes a new pipefs sb, rpc_remove_pipedir function would misjudge the existence of pipefs sb which is not the one it used to hold. As a result, the rpc_remove_pipedir would clean the released freed pipefs dentries.

To fix this issue, rpc_remove_pipedir should check whether the current pipefs sb is consistent with the original pipefs sb.

This error can be catched by KASAN: ========================================================= [ 250.497700] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in dget_parent+0x195/0x200 [ 250.498315] Read of size 4 at addr ffff88800a2ab804 by task kworker/0:18/106503 [ 250.500549] Workqueue: events rpc_free_client_work [ 250.501001] Call Trace: [ 250.502880] kasan_report+0xb6/0xf0 [ 250.503209] ? dget_parent+0x195/0x200 [ 250.503561] dget_parent+0x195/0x200 [ 250.503897] ? __pfx_rpc_clntdir_depopulate+0x10/0x10 [ 250.504384] rpc_rmdir_depopulate+0x1b/0x90 [ 250.504781] rpc_remove_client_dir+0xf5/0x150 [ 250.505195] rpc_free_client_work+0xe4/0x230 [ 250.505598] process_one_work+0x8ee/0x13b0 ... [ 22.039056] Allocated by task 244: [ 22.039390] kasan_save_stack+0x22/0x50 [ 22.039758] kasan_set_track+0x25/0x30 [ 22.040109] __kasan_slab_alloc+0x59/0x70 [ 22.040487] kmem_cache_alloc_lru+0xf0/0x240 [ 22.040889] __d_alloc+0x31/0x8e0 [ 22.041207] d_alloc+0x44/0x1f0 [ 22.041514] __rpc_lookup_create_exclusive+0x11c/0x140 [ 22.041987] rpc_mkdir_populate.constprop.0+0x5f/0x110 [ 22.042459] rpc_create_client_dir+0x34/0x150 [ 22.042874] rpc_setup_pipedir_sb+0x102/0x1c0 [ 22.043284] rpc_client_register+0x136/0x4e0 [ 22.043689] rpc_new_client+0x911/0x1020 [ 22.044057] rpc_create_xprt+0xcb/0x370 [ 22.044417] rpc_create+0x36b/0x6c0 ... [ 22.049524] Freed by task 0: [ 22.049803] kasan_save_stack+0x22/0x50 [ 22.050165] kasan_set_track+0x25/0x30 [ 22.050520] kasan_save_free_info+0x2b/0x50 [ 22.050921] __kasan_slab_free+0x10e/0x1a0 [ 22.051306] kmem_cache_free+0xa5/0x390 [ 22.051667] rcu_core+0x62c/0x1930 [ 22.051995] __do_softirq+0x165/0x52a [ 22.052347] [ 22.052503] Last potentially related work creation: [ 22.052952] kasan_save_stack+0x22/0x50 [ 22.053313] __kasan_record_aux_stack+0x8e/0xa0 [ 22.053739] __call_rcu_common.constprop.0+0x6b/0x8b0 [ 22.054209] dentry_free+0xb2/0x140 [ 22.054540] __dentry_kill+0x3be/0x540 [ 22.054900] shrink_dentry_list+0x199/0x510 [ 22.055293] shrink_dcache_parent+0x190/0x240 [ 22.055703] do_one_tree+0x11/0x40 [ 22.056028] shrink_dcache_for_umount+0x61/0x140 [ 22.056461] generic_shutdown_super+0x70/0x590 [ 22.056879] kill_anon_super+0x3a/0x60 [ 22.057234] rpc_kill_sb+0x121/0x200

Patch / fix

fixed in 1 distros 6 links 8

Linux Linux 4.19.318, 5.4.280, 5.10.202, 5.15.140, 6.1.64, 6.5.13, 6.6.3, 6.7

debian ubuntu red hat suse almalinux rocky linux

linux Debian 12 6.1.64-1
linux Debian 14, Debian 13 6.6.8-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52803

linux Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-195.215
linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-100.110
linux-aws Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1132.142
linux-aws Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1056.61
linux-gcp Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1136.145
linux-gcp Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1053.61
linux-gke Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1052.57
linux-ibm Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1079.84

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52803

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

kernel-rt RHEL 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10
kernel-rt-kvm RHEL 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10
kernel-rt-core RHEL 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10
kernel-rt-modules RHEL 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10
kernel-rt-debug-kvm RHEL 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10
kernel-rt-debug-core RHEL 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10
kernel-rt-debug-modules RHEL 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10
kernel-rt-modules-extra RHEL 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10

red hat advisories RHSA-2025:4509 RHSA-2024:5102 RHSA-2024:5101

kernel-rt Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-9.1
kernel-source-rt Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-9.1
kernel-source Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-18.1
kernel-default Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-18.1
kernel-kvmsmall Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-18.1
kernel-default-base Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-17.1.1.51
kernel-rt Real Time Module 15 SP6, openSUSE Leap 15.6 6.4.0-150600.10.5.1
kernel-syms-rt Real Time Module 15 SP6, openSUSE Leap 15.6 6.4.0-150600.10.5.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2025:20028-1 SUSE-SU-2025:20008-1 SUSE-SU-2024:2973-1 SUSE-SU-2024:2896-1 SUSE-SU-2024:2571-1 SUSE-SU-2024:2190-1

kernel AlmaLinux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10
perf AlmaLinux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10
bpftool AlmaLinux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10
kernel-core AlmaLinux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10
kernel-tools AlmaLinux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10
python3-perf AlmaLinux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10
kernel-modules AlmaLinux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10
kernel-zfcpdump AlmaLinux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10

almalinux advisories ALSA-2024:5101 ALSA-2024:5102

kernel Rocky Linux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10.cloud.0.1
kernel-rt Rocky Linux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10
kernel Rocky Linux 8 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10

rocky linux advisories RXSA-2024:5101 RLSA-2024:5102 RLSA-2024:5101

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2023-52803 updated 2026-11-05 cvss 5.5

kernel: SUNRPC: Fix RPC client cleaned up the freed pipefs dentries

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more
affected: no fix planned “Out of support scope”
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +82 more
affected: no fix available
Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v.9.4) libperf 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.9.4) rv 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, perf 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, rtla 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-devel-matched 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-64k-devel-matched 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-debug-devel-matched 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, +6 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2025:4509
Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) perf 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10, kernel 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10, bpftool 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10, kernel-core 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10, kernel-tools 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10, python3-perf 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10, +15 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2024:5101
Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS (v.9.4) bpftool 7.3.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-64k 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-core 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-tools 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, python3-perf 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, +28 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2025:4509
Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2024:5101
Red Hat Enterprise Linux NFV (v. 8) kernel-rt 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, kernel-rt-kvm 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, kernel-rt-core 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, kernel-rt-modules 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, kernel-rt-debug-core 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, +4 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2024:5102
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time EUS (v.9.4) kernel-rt 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-core 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-modules 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-debug-core 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-modules-core 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-debug-modules 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, +4 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV EUS (v.9.4) kernel-rt 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-kvm 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-core 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-modules 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-debug-core 5.14.0-427.67.1.el9_4, +6 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2025:4509

show 1 more

Red Hat Enterprise Linux RT (v. 8) kernel-rt 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, kernel-rt-core 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, kernel-rt-modules 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, kernel-rt-debug-core 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, kernel-rt-debug-modules 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, kernel-rt-modules-extra 4.18.0-553.16.1.rt7.357.el8_10, +2 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2024:5102

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: none
Automatable: no
Technical impact: partial
Assessed: 2 y ago (2024-06-17)

Exploit prediction

0.24% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 14% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	3.1	5.5	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected products

Linux Linux

Classification

Weakness

CWE-416 Use After Free

Technology feeds

Linux kernel rss critical rss

References

Sources

CVE List CVE-2023-52803
NVD CVE-2023-52803

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary