Linux Kernel up to 6.1.20/6.2.7 LoongArch kernel/locking/mutex.c get_timer_irq timer_irq_installed stack-based overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as critical has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.20/6.2.7. Affected by this issue is the function get_timer_irq of the file kernel/locking/mutex.c of the component LoongArch. The manipulation of the argument timer_irq_installed results in stack-based overflow. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2023-53067. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.20/6.2.7. Affected is the function get_timer_irq of the file kernel/locking/mutex.c of the component LoongArch. The manipulation of the argument timer_irq_installed with an unknown input leads to a stack-based overflow vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-121. A stack-based buffer overflow condition is a condition where the buffer being overwritten is allocated on the stack (i.e., is a local variable or, rarely, a parameter to a function). This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: LoongArch: Only call get_timer_irq() once in constant_clockevent_init() Under CONFIG_DEBUG_ATOMIC_SLEEP=y and CONFIG_DEBUG_PREEMPT=y, we can see the following messages on LoongArch, this is because using might_sleep() in preemption disable context. [ 0.001127] smp: Bringing up secondary CPUs ... [ 0.001222] Booting CPU#1... [ 0.001244] 64-bit Loongson Processor probed (LA464 Core) [ 0.001247] CPU1 revision is: 0014c012 (Loongson-64bit) [ 0.001250] FPU1 revision is: 00000000 [ 0.001252] BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/locking/mutex.c:283 [ 0.001255] in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 1, non_block: 0, pid: 0, name: swapper/1 [ 0.001257] preempt_count: 1, expected: 0 [ 0.001258] RCU nest depth: 0, expected: 0 [ 0.001259] Preemption disabled at: [ 0.001261] [<9000000000223800>] arch_dup_task_struct+0x20/0x110 [ 0.001272] CPU: 1 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/1 Not tainted 6.2.0-rc7+ #43 [ 0.001275] Hardware name: Loongson Loongson-3A5000-7A1000-1w-A2101/Loongson-LS3A5000-7A1000-1w-A2101, BIOS vUDK2018-LoongArch-V4.0.05132-beta10 12/13/202 [ 0.001277] Stack : 0072617764726148 0000000000000000 9000000000222f1c 90000001001e0000 [ 0.001286] 90000001001e3be0 90000001001e3be8 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 [ 0.001292] 90000001001e3be8 0000000000000040 90000001001e3cb8 90000001001e3a50 [ 0.001297] 9000000001642000 90000001001e3be8 be694d10ce4139dd 9000000100174500 [ 0.001303] 0000000000000001 0000000000000001 00000000ffffe0a2 0000000000000020 [ 0.001309] 000000000000002f 9000000001354116 00000000056b0000 ffffffffffffffff [ 0.001314] 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 90000000014f6e90 9000000001642000 [ 0.001320] 900000000022b69c 0000000000000001 0000000000000000 9000000001736a90 [ 0.001325] 9000000100038000 0000000000000000 9000000000222f34 0000000000000000 [ 0.001331] 00000000000000b0 0000000000000004 0000000000000000 0000000000070000 [ 0.001337] ... [ 0.001339] Call Trace: [ 0.001342] [<9000000000222f34>] show_stack+0x5c/0x180 [ 0.001346] [<90000000010bdd80>] dump_stack_lvl+0x60/0x88 [ 0.001352] [<9000000000266418>] __might_resched+0x180/0x1cc [ 0.001356] [<90000000010c742c>] mutex_lock+0x20/0x64 [ 0.001359] [<90000000002a8ccc>] irq_find_matching_fwspec+0x48/0x124 [ 0.001364] [<90000000002259c4>] constant_clockevent_init+0x68/0x204 [ 0.001368] [<900000000022acf4>] start_secondary+0x40/0xa8 [ 0.001371] [<90000000010c0124>] smpboot_entry+0x60/0x64 Here are the complete call chains: smpboot_entry() start_secondary() constant_clockevent_init() get_timer_irq() irq_find_matching_fwnode() irq_find_matching_fwspec() mutex_lock() might_sleep() __might_sleep() __might_resched() In order to avoid the above issue, we should break the call chains, using timer_irq_installed variable as check condition to only call get_timer_irq() once in constant_clockevent_init() is a simple and proper way.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2023-53067 since 05/02/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 11/12/2025).

Upgrading to version 6.1.21 or 6.2.8 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch b9c379e1d7e141b102f41858c9b8f6f36e7c89a4/acadbd058fa12b510fbecca11eae22bd6f654250/bb7a78e343468873bf00b2b181fcfd3c02d8cb56 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.

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.1.17
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.1.20
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2
• 6.2.3
• 6.2.4
• 6.2.5
• 6.2.6
• 6.2.7

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

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