CVE-2023-53171

VFIO DMA mapping failure via locked_vm underflow

Published Sep 15, 2025 · Updated Sep 15, 2025

Resource accounting underflow in the Linux kernel allows local users to block later VFIO DMA mappings through a preserved-exec sequence. The VFIO type1 code reacquires the task's replacement memory descriptor after exec and subtracts an existing DMA mapping from its zeroed locked_vm count, wrapping the unsigned value. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and a VFIO container preserved across exec; the reported consequence is ENOMEM allocation failure, not data exposure or modification.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.15%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource accounting underflow in the Linux kernel allows local users to block later VFIO DMA mappings through a preserved-exec sequence. The VFIO type1 code reacquires the task's replacement memory descriptor after exec and subtracts an existing DMA mapping from its zeroed locked_vm count, wrapping the unsigned value. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and a VFIO container preserved across exec; the reported consequence is ENOMEM allocation failure, not data exposure or modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53171
Published
Sep 15, 2025
Updated
Sep 15, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 15, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 15, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=3.6
  2. Affected versionversion=73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336 <046eca5018f8a5dd1dc2cedf87fb5843b9ea3026
  3. Affected versionversion=73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336 <5a271242716846cc016736fb76be2b40ee49b0c3
  4. Affected versionversion=73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336 <a6b2aabe664098d5cf877ae0fd96459464a30e17
  5. Affected versionversion=73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336 <b0790dff0760b7734cf0961f497ad64628ca550b
  6. Affected versionversion=73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336 <eafb81c50da899dd80b340c841277acc4a1945b7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=3.6; version=73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336 <046eca5018f8a5dd1dc2cedf87fb5843b9ea3026; version=73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336 <5a271242716846cc016736fb76be2b40ee49b0c3; version=73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336 <a6b2aabe664098d5cf877ae0fd96459464a30e17; version=73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336 <b0790dff0760b7734cf0961f497ad64628ca550b; version=73fa0d10d077d9521ee2dace2307ae2c9a965336 <eafb81c50da899dd80b340c841277acc4a1945b7

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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