Linux Kernel up to 5.15.98/6.1.15/6.2.2 arch_cpu_idle recursion

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.98/6.1.15/6.2.2 and classified as critical. The impacted element is the function arch_cpu_idle. The manipulation results in recursion. This vulnerability was named CVE-2023-53859. There is no available exploit. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.98/6.1.15/6.2.2. It has been classified as critical. Affected is the function arch_cpu_idle. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a recursion vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-674. The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack. The impact remains unknown. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390/idle: mark arch_cpu_idle() noinstr linux-next commit ("cpuidle: tracing: Warn about !rcu_is_watching()") adds a new warning which hits on s390's arch_cpu_idle() function: RCU not on for: arch_cpu_idle+0x0/0x28 WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 0 at include/linux/trace_recursion.h:162 arch_ftrace_ops_list_func+0x24c/0x258 Modules linked in: CPU: 2 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/2 Not tainted 6.2.0-rc6-next-20230202 #4 Hardware name: IBM 8561 T01 703 (z/VM 7.3.0) Krnl PSW : 0404d00180000000 00000000002b55c0 (arch_ftrace_ops_list_func+0x250/0x258) R:0 T:1 IO:0 EX:0 Key:0 M:1 W:0 P:0 AS:3 CC:1 PM:0 RI:0 EA:3 Krnl GPRS: c0000000ffffbfff 0000000080000002 0000000000000026 0000000000000000 0000037ffffe3a28 0000037ffffe3a20 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000f4acf6 00000000001044f0 0000037ffffe3cb0 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 00000000002b55bc 0000037ffffe3bb8 Krnl Code: 00000000002b55b0: c02000840051 larl %r2,0000000001335652 00000000002b55b6: c0e5fff512d1 brasl %r14,0000000000157b58 #00000000002b55bc: af000000 mc 0,0 >00000000002b55c0: a7f4ffe7 brc 15,00000000002b558e 00000000002b55c4: 0707 bcr 0,%r7 00000000002b55c6: 0707 bcr 0,%r7 00000000002b55c8: eb6ff0480024 stmg %r6,%r15,72(%r15) 00000000002b55ce: b90400ef lgr %r14,%r15 Call Trace: [<00000000002b55c0>] arch_ftrace_ops_list_func+0x250/0x258 ([<00000000002b55bc>] arch_ftrace_ops_list_func+0x24c/0x258) [<0000000000f5f0fc>] ftrace_common+0x1c/0x20 [<00000000001044f6>] arch_cpu_idle+0x6/0x28 [<0000000000f4acf6>] default_idle_call+0x76/0x128 [<00000000001cc374>] do_idle+0xf4/0x1b0 [<00000000001cc6ce>] cpu_startup_entry+0x36/0x40 [<0000000000119d00>] smp_start_secondary+0x140/0x150 [<0000000000f5d2ae>] restart_int_handler+0x6e/0x90 Mark arch_cpu_idle() noinstr like all other architectures with CONFIG_ARCH_WANTS_NO_INSTR (should) have it to fix this.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2023-53859 since 12/09/2025. The exploitability is told to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 5.15.99, 6.1.16 or 6.2.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 49aa49952116b8fd56bfb1e8c69bce179f49bece/611c390217106c46e24e1af3db83187339d447ea/fc60c4f12d8a056f20d8f4d0086a36c68ffa9fdc/a9cbc1b471d291c865907542394f1c483b93a811 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 vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2765). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.15.0
• 5.15.1
• 5.15.2
• 5.15.3
• 5.15.4
• 5.15.5
• 5.15.6
• 5.15.7
• 5.15.8
• 5.15.9
• 5.15.10
• 5.15.11
• 5.15.12
• 5.15.13
• 5.15.14
• 5.15.15
• 5.15.16
• 5.15.17
• 5.15.18
• 5.15.19
• 5.15.20
• 5.15.21
• 5.15.22
• 5.15.23
• 5.15.24
• 5.15.25
• 5.15.26
• 5.15.27
• 5.15.28
• 5.15.29
• 5.15.30
• 5.15.31
• 5.15.32
• 5.15.33
• 5.15.34
• 5.15.35
• 5.15.36
• 5.15.37
• 5.15.38
• 5.15.39
• 5.15.40
• 5.15.41
• 5.15.42
• 5.15.43
• 5.15.44
• 5.15.45
• 5.15.46
• 5.15.47
• 5.15.48
• 5.15.49
• 5.15.50
• 5.15.51
• 5.15.52
• 5.15.53
• 5.15.54
• 5.15.55
• 5.15.56
• 5.15.57
• 5.15.58
• 5.15.59
• 5.15.60
• 5.15.61
• 5.15.62
• 5.15.63
• 5.15.64
• 5.15.65
• 5.15.66
• 5.15.67
• 5.15.68
• 5.15.69
• 5.15.70
• 5.15.71
• 5.15.72
• 5.15.73
• 5.15.74
• 5.15.75
• 5.15.76
• 5.15.77
• 5.15.78
• 5.15.79
• 5.15.80
• 5.15.81
• 5.15.82
• 5.15.83
• 5.15.84
• 5.15.85
• 5.15.86
• 5.15.87
• 5.15.88
• 5.15.89
• 5.15.90
• 5.15.91
• 5.15.92
• 5.15.93
• 5.15.94
• 5.15.95
• 5.15.96
• 5.15.97
• 5.15.98
• 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
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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