Linux Kernel up to 5.15.148/6.1.78/6.6.17/6.7.5 j1939_socks_lock deadlock

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5.0$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.148/6.1.78/6.6.17/6.7.5. It has been classified as critical. Affected is the function j1939_socks_lock. This manipulation causes deadlock. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-52638. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.148/6.1.78/6.6.17/6.7.5 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function j1939_socks_lock. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a deadlock vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-833. The product contains multiple threads or executable segments that are waiting for each other to release a necessary lock, resulting in deadlock. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: j1939: prevent deadlock by changing j1939_socks_lock to rwlock The following 3 locks would race against each other, causing the deadlock situation in the Syzbot bug report: - j1939_socks_lock - active_session_list_lock - sk_session_queue_lock A reasonable fix is to change j1939_socks_lock to an rwlock, since in the rare situations where a write lock is required for the linked list that j1939_socks_lock is protecting, the code does not attempt to acquire any more locks. This would break the circular lock dependency, where, for example, the current thread already locks j1939_socks_lock and attempts to acquire sk_session_queue_lock, and at the same time, another thread attempts to acquire j1939_socks_lock while holding sk_session_queue_lock. NOTE: This patch along does not fix the unregister_netdevice bug reported by Syzbot; instead, it solves a deadlock situation to prepare for one or more further patches to actually fix the Syzbot bug, which appears to be a reference counting problem within the j1939 codebase. [mkl: remove unrelated newline change]

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-52638 since 03/06/2024. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 283680 (RHEL 9 : kernel-rt (RHSA-2026:0537)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.15.149, 6.1.79, 6.6.18, 6.7.6 or 6.8 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 03358aba9916/aedda066d717/26dfe112ec2e/559b6322f948/6cdedc18ba7b is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (283680). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.0

VulDB Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Temp Score: 4.6
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Deadlock
CWE: CWE-833 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 283680
Nessus Name: RHEL 9 : kernel-rt (RHSA-2026:0537)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: Kernel 5.15.149/6.1.79/6.6.18/6.7.6/6.8
Patch: 03358aba9916/aedda066d717/26dfe112ec2e/559b6322f948/6cdedc18ba7b

Timelineinfo

03/06/2024 🔍
04/03/2024 +27 days 🔍
04/03/2024 +0 days 🔍
01/14/2026 +651 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2023-52638 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2023-52638
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-259159

Entryinfo

Created: 04/03/2024 17:18
Updated: 01/14/2026 16:12
Changes: 04/03/2024 17:18 (57), 02/04/2025 03:30 (13), 01/14/2026 16:12 (2)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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