Linux Kernel up to 6.0.18/6.1.4 arch/x86/kernel/irq.c qed_mcp_trace_dump assertion

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.0.18/6.1.4. This affects the function qed_mcp_trace_dump of the file arch/x86/kernel/irq.c. Performing a manipulation results in assertion. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2023-53509. There is no exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.0.18/6.1.4. This affects the function qed_mcp_trace_dump of the file arch/x86/kernel/irq.c. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a assertion vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-617. The product contains an assert() or similar statement that can be triggered by an attacker, which leads to an application exit or other behavior that is more severe than necessary. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: qed: allow sleep in qed_mcp_trace_dump() By default, qed_mcp_cmd_and_union() delays 10us at a time in a loop that can run 500K times, so calls to qed_mcp_nvm_rd_cmd() may block the current thread for over 5s. We observed thread scheduling delays over 700ms in production, with stacktraces pointing to this code as the culprit. qed_mcp_trace_dump() is called from ethtool, so sleeping is permitted. It already can sleep in qed_mcp_halt(), which calls qed_mcp_cmd(). Add a "can sleep" parameter to qed_find_nvram_image() and qed_nvram_read() so they can sleep during qed_mcp_trace_dump(). qed_mcp_trace_get_meta_info() and qed_mcp_trace_read_meta(), called only by qed_mcp_trace_dump(), allow these functions to sleep. I can't tell if the other caller (qed_grc_dump_mcp_hw_dump()) can sleep, so keep b_can_sleep set to false when it calls these functions. An example stacktrace from a custom warning we added to the kernel showing a thread that has not scheduled despite long needing resched: [ 2745.362925,17] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 2745.362941,17] WARNING: CPU: 23 PID: 5640 at arch/x86/kernel/irq.c:233 do_IRQ+0x15e/0x1a0() [ 2745.362946,17] Thread not rescheduled for 744 ms after irq 99 [ 2745.362956,17] Modules linked in: ... [ 2745.363339,17] CPU: 23 PID: 5640 Comm: lldpd Tainted: P O 4.4.182+ #202104120910+6d1da174272d.61x [ 2745.363343,17] Hardware name: FOXCONN MercuryB/Quicksilver Controller, BIOS H11P1N09 07/08/2020 [ 2745.363346,17] 0000000000000000 ffff885ec07c3ed8 ffffffff8131eb2f ffff885ec07c3f20 [ 2745.363358,17] ffffffff81d14f64 ffff885ec07c3f10 ffffffff81072ac2 ffff88be98ed0000 [ 2745.363369,17] 0000000000000063 0000000000000174 0000000000000074 0000000000000000 [ 2745.363379,17] Call Trace: [ 2745.363382,17] <IRQ> [<ffffffff8131eb2f>] dump_stack+0x8e/0xcf [ 2745.363393,17] [<ffffffff81072ac2>] warn_slowpath_common+0x82/0xc0 [ 2745.363398,17] [<ffffffff81072b4c>] warn_slowpath_fmt+0x4c/0x50 [ 2745.363404,17] [<ffffffff810d5a8e>] ? rcu_irq_exit+0xae/0xc0 [ 2745.363408,17] [<ffffffff817c99fe>] do_IRQ+0x15e/0x1a0 [ 2745.363413,17] [<ffffffff817c7ac9>] common_interrupt+0x89/0x89 [ 2745.363416,17] <EOI> [<ffffffff8132aa74>] ? delay_tsc+0x24/0x50 [ 2745.363425,17] [<ffffffff8132aa04>] __udelay+0x34/0x40 [ 2745.363457,17] [<ffffffffa04d45ff>] qed_mcp_cmd_and_union+0x36f/0x7d0 [qed] [ 2745.363473,17] [<ffffffffa04d5ced>] qed_mcp_nvm_rd_cmd+0x4d/0x90 [qed] [ 2745.363490,17] [<ffffffffa04e1dc7>] qed_mcp_trace_dump+0x4a7/0x630 [qed] [ 2745.363504,17] [<ffffffffa04e2556>] ? qed_fw_asserts_dump+0x1d6/0x1f0 [qed] [ 2745.363520,17] [<ffffffffa04e4ea7>] qed_dbg_mcp_trace_get_dump_buf_size+0x37/0x80 [qed] [ 2745.363536,17] [<ffffffffa04ea881>] qed_dbg_feature_size+0x61/0xa0 [qed] [ 2745.363551,17] [<ffffffffa04eb427>] qed_dbg_all_data_size+0x247/0x260 [qed] [ 2745.363560,17] [<ffffffffa0482c10>] qede_get_regs_len+0x30/0x40 [qede] [ 2745.363566,17] [<ffffffff816c9783>] ethtool_get_drvinfo+0xe3/0x190 [ 2745.363570,17] [<ffffffff816cc152>] dev_ethtool+0x1362/0x2140 [ 2745.363575,17] [<ffffffff8109bcc6>] ? finish_task_switch+0x76/0x260 [ 2745.363580,17] [<ffffffff817c2116>] ? __schedule+0x3c6/0x9d0 [ 2745.363585,17] [<ffffffff810dbd50>] ? hrtimer_start_range_ns+0x1d0/0x370 [ 2745.363589,17] [<ffffffff816c1e5b>] ? dev_get_by_name_rcu+0x6b/0x90 [ 2745.363594,17] [<ffffffff816de6a8>] dev_ioctl+0xe8/0x710 [ 2745.363599,17] [<ffffffff816a58a8>] sock_do_ioctl+0x48/0x60 [ 2745.363603,17] [<ffffffff816a5d87>] sock_ioctl+0x1c7/0x280 [ 2745.363608,17] [<ffffffff8111f393>] ? seccomp_phase1+0x83/0x220 [ 2745.363612,17] [<ffffffff811e3503>] do_vfs_ioctl+0x2b3/0x4e0 [ 2745.363616,17] [<ffffffff811e3771>] SyS_ioctl+0x41/0x70 [ 2745.363619,17] [<ffffffff817c6ffe>] entry_SYSCALL_64_fastpath+0x1e/0x79 [ 2745.363622,17] ---[ end trace f6954aa440266421 ]---

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-53509 since 10/01/2025. The exploitability is told 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 302439 (EulerOS 2.0 SP12 : kernel (EulerOS-SA-2026-1366)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.0.19 or 6.1.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch e0387f4f39a8d92302273ac356d1f6b2a38160d8/50c81b35df01db12b348c5cbf4b1917dc9a7db54/5401c3e0992860b11fb4b25796e4c4f1921740df 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 (302439) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2187). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for 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

• 6.0.0
• 6.0.1
• 6.0.2
• 6.0.3
• 6.0.4
• 6.0.5
• 6.0.6
• 6.0.7
• 6.0.8
• 6.0.9
• 6.0.10
• 6.0.11
• 6.0.12
• 6.0.13
• 6.0.14
• 6.0.15
• 6.0.16
• 6.0.17
• 6.0.18
• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

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

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