Skip to main content

Boteraser | Website and Server Security Solutions

🛡️ CVE-2023-52973 — kernel

🟠 CVSS 7.8 — High ✅ No Known Exploit NVD
7.8
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

vc_screen: move load of struct vc_data pointer in vcs_read() to avoid UAF

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

vc_screen: move load of struct vc_data pointer in vcs_read() to avoid UAF

After a call to console_unlock() in vcs_read() the vc_data struct can be

freed by vc_deallocate(). Because of that, the struct vc_data pointer

load must be done at the top of while loop in vcs_read() to avoid a UAF

when vcs_size() is called.

Syzkaller reported a UAF in vcs_size().

BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in vcs_size (drivers/tty/vt/vc_screen.c:215)

Read of size 4 at addr ffff8881137479a8 by task 4a005ed81e27e65/1537

CPU: 0 PID: 1537 Comm: 4a005ed81e27e65 Not tainted 6.2.0-rc5 #1

Hardware name: Red Hat KVM, BIOS 1.15.0-2.module

Call Trace:

<TASK>

__asan_report_load4_noabort (mm/kasan/report_generic.c:350)

vcs_size (drivers/tty/vt/vc_screen.c:215)

vcs_read (drivers/tty/vt/vc_screen.c:415)

vfs_read (fs/read_write.c:468 fs/read_write.c:450)

...

</TASK>

Allocated by task 1191:

...

kmalloc_trace (mm/slab_common.c:1069)

vc_allocate (./include/linux/slab.h:580 ./include/linux/slab.h:720

drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:1128 drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:1108)

con_install (drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:3383)

tty_init_dev (drivers/tty/tty_io.c:1301 drivers/tty/tty_io.c:1413

drivers/tty/tty_io.c:1390)

tty_open (drivers/tty/tty_io.c:2080 drivers/tty/tty_io.c:2126)

chrdev_open (fs/char_dev.c:415)

do_dentry_open (fs/open.c:883)

vfs_open (fs/open.c:1014)

...

Freed by task 1548:

...

kfree (mm/slab_common.c:1021)

vc_port_destruct (drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:1094)

tty_port_destructor (drivers/tty/tty_port.c:296)

tty_port_put (drivers/tty/tty_port.c:312)

vt_disallocate_all (drivers/tty/vt/vt_ioctl.c:662 (discriminator 2))

vt_ioctl (drivers/tty/vt/vt_ioctl.c:903)

tty_ioctl (drivers/tty/tty_io.c:2776)

...

The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff888113747800

which belongs to the cache kmalloc-1k of size 1024

The buggy address is located 424 bytes inside of

1024-byte region [ffff888113747800, ffff888113747c00)

The buggy address belongs to the physical page:

page:00000000b3fe6c7c refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000

index:0x0 pfn:0x113740

head:00000000b3fe6c7c order:3 compound_mapcount:0 subpages_mapcount:0

compound_pincount:0

anon flags: 0x17ffffc0010200(slab|head|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x1fffff)

raw: 0017ffffc0010200 ffff888100042dc0 0000000000000000 dead000000000001

raw: 0000000000000000 0000000000100010 00000001ffffffff 0000000000000000

page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected

Memory state around the buggy address:

ffff888113747880: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb

ffff888113747900: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb

> ffff888113747980: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb

^

ffff888113747a00: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb

ffff888113747a80: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb

==================================================================

Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality high, integrity high, availability high.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

  • Attack vector: Local — a local account, shell or session on the host is needed.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: Low — an ordinary user account is enough.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.
  • Integrity impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.
  • Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Affected software

CVE-2023-52973 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • kernel (from 5.16.0 up to 6.1.11)
  • linux-kernel

Timeline and source

Published on 27 March 2025 and last revised on 12 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.

References

git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
github.com (Advisory)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
git.kernel.org (Package)

Other advisories for this package

kernel has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

CVE-2023-52973 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity High
CVSS Score 7.8
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE N/A
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2025-03-27
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-08-12

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
kernel 5.16.0 6.1.11
linux-kernel — —

Similar Threats

Site Security Check

Is kernel part of your stack?

CVE-2023-52973 is rated CVSS 7.8 High. BotEraser scans your installation against known CVE records and tells you whether this vulnerability applies to the versions you actually run.

Scan My Site Free →

No credit card required  ·  Results in minutes

ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

Browse related advisories

All advisoriesCVECVE 2023
✓