Linux Kernel up to 6.1.29/6.3.3 free_fw_priv privilege escalation

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.29/6.3.3. The impacted element is the function free_fw_priv. Such manipulation leads to an unknown weakness. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-53547. No exploit exists. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.29/6.3.3 and classified as critical. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/amdgpu: Fix sdma v4 sw fini error Fix sdma v4 sw fini error for sdma 4.2.2 to solve the following general protection fault [ +0.108196] general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xd5e5a4ae79d24a32: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI [ +0.000018] RIP: 0010:free_fw_priv+0xd/0x70 [ +0.000022] Call Trace: [ +0.000012] <TASK> [ +0.000011] release_firmware+0x55/0x80 [ +0.000021] amdgpu_ucode_release+0x11/0x20 [amdgpu] [ +0.000415] amdgpu_sdma_destroy_inst_ctx+0x4f/0x90 [amdgpu] [ +0.000360] sdma_v4_0_sw_fini+0xce/0x110 [amdgpu]

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2023-53547 since 10/04/2025. The exploitation is known to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 03/01/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.1.30 or 6.3.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 210ef6cd8e634f18fd889421012192b81325b27b/0ebc02d9ff85626a526353584526da6aa9c96792/5e08e9c742a00384e5abe74bd40cf4dc15cb3a2e 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-2023-60061) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2194). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Google Cloud Platform
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• NetApp ActiveIQ Unified Manager
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• Dell NetWorker

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
• 6.1.25
• 6.1.26
• 6.1.27
• 6.1.28
• 6.1.29
• 6.3.0
• 6.3.1
• 6.3.2
• 6.3.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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Entryinfo

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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