CVE-2023-53116
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) target subsystem. During request completion, a memory structure can be prematurely freed and subsequently dereferenced, leading to a use-after-free condition. A local user could exploit this flaw to cause a kernel crash, resulting in a denial of service (DoS).
Statement
A moderate use-after-free vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's NVMe target (nvmet) subsystem, affecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (kernel and kernel-rt). During request completion, an NVMe target ->queue_response() implementation may free the request passed as its argument, and the request pointer can then be dereferenced when percpu_ref_put() is called in nvmet_req_complete(), resulting in a use-after-free. A local user could exploit this flaw to cause a kernel crash, resulting in a denial of service. Red Hat has rated this flaw Moderate severity (CVSS:3.1 5.5, AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) because exploitation requires local access with privileges and the impact is limited to availability. The higher NIST (7.8) and CVE.org (9.8) scores assume a broader impact than the technical evidence supports: the CVE.org score assumes a network attack vector requiring no privileges, and the NIST score assumes full confidentiality and integrity impact, while this flaw can only be triggered locally by a privileged user and results in denial of service only. For the affected Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 streams, the fix is deferred and will be delivered in a future update; the residual risk until then is that a local user could cause a kernel crash (denial of service). Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, and Red Hat In-Vehicle OS are not affected because the vulnerable code is not present in those releases. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 records, and the Hosted OpenShift Cluster records, are out of support scope.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.5 | 7.8 | 9.8 |
| Attack Vector | Local | Local | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | Low | None |
| User Interaction | None | None | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | High | High |
| Integrity Impact | None | High | High |
| Availability Impact | High | High | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
If the expired pointer is used in a read operation, an attacker might be able to control data read in by the application.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
If the expired pointer references a memory location that is not accessible to the product, or points to a location that is "malformed" (such as NULL) or larger than expected by a read or write operation, then a crash may occur.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
If the expired pointer is used in a function call, or points to unexpected data in a write operation, then code execution may be possible.
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