Linux Kernel up to 6.1.24/6.2.11 atomic_inc denial of service

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.24/6.2.11. Affected is the function atomic_inc. This manipulation causes denial of service. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2023-53522. No exploit is available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.24/6.2.11. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function atomic_inc. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a denial of service vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-404. The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cgroup,freezer: hold cpu_hotplug_lock before freezer_mutex syzbot is reporting circular locking dependency between cpu_hotplug_lock and freezer_mutex, for commit f5d39b020809 ("freezer,sched: Rewrite core freezer logic") replaced atomic_inc() in freezer_apply_state() with static_branch_inc() which holds cpu_hotplug_lock. cpu_hotplug_lock => cgroup_threadgroup_rwsem => freezer_mutex cgroup_file_write() { cgroup_procs_write() { __cgroup_procs_write() { cgroup_procs_write_start() { cgroup_attach_lock() { cpus_read_lock() { percpu_down_read(&cpu_hotplug_lock); } percpu_down_write(&cgroup_threadgroup_rwsem); } } cgroup_attach_task() { cgroup_migrate() { cgroup_migrate_execute() { freezer_attach() { mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex); (...snipped...) } } } } (...snipped...) } } } freezer_mutex => cpu_hotplug_lock cgroup_file_write() { freezer_write() { freezer_change_state() { mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex); freezer_apply_state() { static_branch_inc(&freezer_active) { static_key_slow_inc() { cpus_read_lock(); static_key_slow_inc_cpuslocked(); cpus_read_unlock(); } } } mutex_unlock(&freezer_mutex); } } } Swap locking order by moving cpus_read_lock() in freezer_apply_state() to before mutex_lock(&freezer_mutex) in freezer_change_state().

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53522 since 10/01/2025. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 6.1.25 or 6.2.12 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 3756171b97c307d9df8b8ded1d883eec30172085/34fbb7b45bae20b551dda24337c7761ca13ce69d/57dcd64c7e036299ef526b400a8d12b8a2352f26 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 EUVD (EUVD-2025-32739) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2187). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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

• 6.1.0
• 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
• 6.1.21
• 6.1.22
• 6.1.23
• 6.1.24
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2
• 6.2.3
• 6.2.4
• 6.2.5
• 6.2.6
• 6.2.7
• 6.2.8
• 6.2.9
• 6.2.10
• 6.2.11

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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