Linux Kernel up to 6.4.3 __stack_chk_fail stack-based overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.4.3 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function __stack_chk_fail. The manipulation leads to stack-based overflow. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2023-53491. No exploit is available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.4.3 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function __stack_chk_fail. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a stack-based overflow vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to 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). Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: start_kernel: Add __no_stack_protector function attribute Back during the discussion of commit a9a3ed1eff36 ("x86: Fix early boot crash on gcc-10, third try") we discussed the need for a function attribute to control the omission of stack protectors on a per-function basis; at the time Clang had support for no_stack_protector but GCC did not. This was fixed in gcc-11. Now that the function attribute is available, let's start using it. Callers of boot_init_stack_canary need to use this function attribute unless they're compiled with -fno-stack-protector, otherwise the canary stored in the stack slot of the caller will differ upon the call to boot_init_stack_canary. This will lead to a call to __stack_chk_fail() then panic.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-53491 since 10/01/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 01/23/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 284764 (EulerOS 2.0 SP12 : kernel (EulerOS-SA-2026-1091)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.4.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 25e73018b4093e0cfbcec5dc4a4bb86d0b69ed56/514ca14ed5444b911de59ed3381dfd195d99fe4b 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 databases at Tenable (284764) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2187). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.4.0
• 6.4.1
• 6.4.2
• 6.4.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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