Kernel panic via uncapped backoff exponent
Published Sep 16, 2025 · Updated Sep 16, 2025
Shift-out-of-bounds in the ENA driver in affected Linux kernel versions allows local users to trigger a kernel panic during adapter reset. The ena_delay_exponential_backoff_us function shifts a 32-bit value by an uncapped exponent, causing retry delays to wrap before an exponent of 32 invokes undefined behavior. Reachability requires an ENA-backed system and enough reset retries to raise the exponent; the bounded consequence is a kernel panic and service interruption.
Summary
What happened
Shift-out-of-bounds in the ENA driver in affected Linux kernel versions allows local users to trigger a kernel panic during adapter reset. The ena_delay_exponential_backoff_us function shifts a 32-bit value by an uncapped exponent, causing retry delays to wrap before an exponent of 32 invokes undefined behavior. Reachability requires an ENA-backed system and enough reset retries to raise the exponent; the bounded consequence is a kernel panic and service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-53272
- Published
- Sep 16, 2025
- Updated
- Sep 16, 2025
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-125, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 16, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 16, 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.
- Affected versionversion=4bb7f4cf60e38a00965d22aa5979ab143193d41f <0939c264729d4a081ff88efce2ffdf85dc5331e0
- Affected versionversion=4bb7f4cf60e38a00965d22aa5979ab143193d41f <1e760b2d18bf129b3da052c2946c02758e97d15e
- Affected versionversion=4bb7f4cf60e38a00965d22aa5979ab143193d41f <1e9cb763e9bacf0c932aa948f50dcfca6f519a26
- Affected versionversion=4bb7f4cf60e38a00965d22aa5979ab143193d41f <3e36cc94d6e60a27f27498adf1c71eeba769ab33
- Affected versionversion=4bb7f4cf60e38a00965d22aa5979ab143193d41f <90947ebf8794e3c229fb2e16e37f1bfea6877f14
- Affected versionversion=5.8
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
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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