CVE-2023-53319

Host crash via unchecked KVM initialization failure

Published Sep 16, 2025 · Updated Sep 16, 2025

Denial of service in Linux kernel 6.4 through 6.4.7 allows local users to cause an arm64 host kernel panic during KVM initialization. finalize_pkvm() continues after kvm_arm_init() fails because the initcalls are unsynchronized, then attempts to finalize uninitialized hypervisor protection. The condition requires arm64 protected KVM and a failed kvm_arm_init(); the consequence is a complete host crash rather than data access or modification.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.14%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in Linux kernel 6.4 through 6.4.7 allows local users to cause an arm64 host kernel panic during KVM initialization. finalize_pkvm() continues after kvm_arm_init() fails because the initcalls are unsynchronized, then attempts to finalize uninitialized hypervisor protection. The condition requires arm64 protected KVM and a failed kvm_arm_init(); the consequence is a complete host crash rather than data access or modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53319
Published
Sep 16, 2025
Updated
Sep 16, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 16, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.4
  2. Affected versionversion=87727ba2bb05cc3cb4233231faa7ab4c7eeb6c73 <91450dec0445f4d12f960ba68d8d05c3cb2ab5b8
  3. Affected versionversion=87727ba2bb05cc3cb4233231faa7ab4c7eeb6c73 <fa729bc7c9c8c17a2481358c841ef8ca920485d3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.4; version=87727ba2bb05cc3cb4233231faa7ab4c7eeb6c73 <91450dec0445f4d12f960ba68d8d05c3cb2ab5b8; version=87727ba2bb05cc3cb4233231faa7ab4c7eeb6c73 <fa729bc7c9c8c17a2481358c841ef8ca920485d3

Published CVSS scores

5.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5NVDCVSS: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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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