Skip to content
Fencer Vulns
high 7.8

CVE-2023-53860 json

dm: don't attempt to queue IO under RCU protection

published 2025-12-09 11 mo ago modified 2026-08-05 3 mo ago also EUVD-2023-60136

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.2%
EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 8%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

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---

Patch / fix

  • Linux Linux 6.1.55, 6.5.5, 6.6
  • linux Debian 12 6.1.55-1
  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13 6.5.6-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53860

  • kernel RHEL 9 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4
  • rv RHEL 9 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4
  • perf RHEL 9 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4
  • rtla RHEL 9 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4
  • bpftool RHEL 9 7.3.0-427.13.1.el9_4
  • libperf RHEL 9 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4
  • kernel-rt RHEL 9 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4
  • kernel-64k RHEL 9 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4

red hat advisories RHSA-2024:2394

  • kernel-rt Linux Micro 6.1, Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-40.1
  • kernel-source-rt Linux Micro 6.1, Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-40.1
  • kernel-source Linux Micro 6.1, Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-39.1
  • kernel-default Linux Micro 6.1, Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-39.1
  • kernel-kvmsmall Linux Micro 6.1, Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-39.1
  • kernel-default-base Linux Micro 6.1, Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-39.1.21.16
  • kernel-64kb SLES 15 SP5-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS 5.14.21-150500.55.133.1
  • kernel-syms SLES for SAP 15 SP5, SLES 15 SP5-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS +1 more 5.14.21-150500.55.133.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:20845-1SUSE-SU-2026:20876-1SUSE-SU-2026:20477-1SUSE-SU-2026:20498-1SUSE-SU-2026:0317-1SUSE-SU-2026:0315-1

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-2023-53860 updated cvss 4.7

kernel: dm: don't attempt to queue IO under RCU protection

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more
    affected: no fix planned “Out of support scope”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 kernel-rt, kernel-rt-kvm, kernel-rt-core, kernel-rt-modules, kernel-rt-debug-kvm, kernel-rt-debug-core, +12 more
    affected: no fix available “Fix deferred”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) rv 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, perf 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, rtla 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-devel-matched 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-64k-devel-matched 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-debug-devel-matched 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, +6 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) bpftool 7.3.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-64k 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-core 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-tools 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, python3-perf 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, +28 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 9) libperf 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4 Red Hat Enterprise Linux NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-kvm 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-core 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-modules 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-debug-core 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, +6 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux RT (v. 9) kernel-rt 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-core 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-modules 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-debug-core 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-modules-core 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, kernel-rt-debug-modules 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4, +4 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2024:2394
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernel
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

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

Exploit prediction

0.18% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 8% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

  • Linux Linux

Classification

Technology feeds

References

Sources

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.