Linux Kernel up to 6.1.46/6.4.11 vdpa vdpa_nl_policy buffer overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.46/6.4.11. Affected by this issue is the function vdpa_nl_policy of the component vdpa. This manipulation causes buffer overflow. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2023-53543. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.46/6.4.11. Affected by this vulnerability is the function vdpa_nl_policy of the component vdpa. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a buffer overflow vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-120. The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer, leading to a buffer overflow. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vdpa: Add max vqp attr to vdpa_nl_policy for nlattr length check The vdpa_nl_policy structure is used to validate the nlattr when parsing the incoming nlmsg. It will ensure the attribute being described produces a valid nlattr pointer in info->attrs before entering into each handler in vdpa_nl_ops. That is to say, the missing part in vdpa_nl_policy may lead to illegal nlattr after parsing, which could lead to OOB read just like CVE-2023-3773. This patch adds the missing nla_policy for vdpa max vqp attr to avoid such bugs.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53543 since 10/04/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 03/01/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.1.47 or 6.4.12 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch ff71709445ac033e6e250d971683110e4781c068/ea65e8b5e6b1a34deda7564f09c90e9e80db436a/5d6ba607d6cb5c58a4ddf33381e18c83dbb4098f 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-2023-60065) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2194). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best 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
• 6.1.30
• 6.1.31
• 6.1.32
• 6.1.33
• 6.1.34
• 6.1.35
• 6.1.36
• 6.1.37
• 6.1.38
• 6.1.39
• 6.1.40
• 6.1.41
• 6.1.42
• 6.1.43
• 6.1.44
• 6.1.45
• 6.1.46
• 6.4.0
• 6.4.1
• 6.4.2
• 6.4.3
• 6.4.4
• 6.4.5
• 6.4.6
• 6.4.7
• 6.4.8
• 6.4.9
• 6.4.10
• 6.4.11

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

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

Discussion