Linux Kernel up to 6.1.29/6.3.3 bfqq_request_over_limit divide by zero

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.29/6.3.3. This vulnerability affects the function bfqq_request_over_limit. Performing a manipulation results in divide by zero. This vulnerability was named CVE-2023-54242. There is no available exploit. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.29/6.3.3. This affects the function bfqq_request_over_limit. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a divide by zero vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-369. The product divides a value by zero. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: block, bfq: Fix division by zero error on zero wsum When the weighted sum is zero the calculation of limit causes a division by zero error. Fix this by continuing to the next level. This was discovered by running as root: stress-ng --ioprio 0 Fixes divison by error oops: [ 521.450556] divide error: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI [ 521.450766] CPU: 2 PID: 2684464 Comm: stress-ng-iopri Not tainted 6.2.1-1280.native #1 [ 521.451117] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.1-0-g3208b098f51a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [ 521.451627] RIP: 0010:bfqq_request_over_limit+0x207/0x400 [ 521.451875] Code: 01 48 8d 0c c8 74 0b 48 8b 82 98 00 00 00 48 8d 0c c8 8b 85 34 ff ff ff 48 89 ca 41 0f af 41 50 48 d1 ea 48 98 48 01 d0 31 d2 <48> f7 f1 41 39 41 48 89 85 34 ff ff ff 0f 8c 7b 01 00 00 49 8b 44 [ 521.452699] RSP: 0018:ffffb1af84eb3948 EFLAGS: 00010046 [ 521.452938] RAX: 000000000000003c RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 521.453262] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffffb1af84eb3978 [ 521.453584] RBP: ffffb1af84eb3a30 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffff8f88ab8a4ba0 [ 521.453905] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff8f88ab8a4b18 [ 521.454224] R13: ffff8f8699093000 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: ffffb1af84eb3970 [ 521.454549] FS: 00005640b6b0b580(0000) GS:ffff8f88b3880000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 521.454912] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 521.455170] CR2: 00007ffcbcae4e38 CR3: 00000002e46de001 CR4: 0000000000770ee0 [ 521.455491] PKRU: 55555554 [ 521.455619] Call Trace: [ 521.455736] <TASK> [ 521.455837] ? bfq_request_merge+0x3a/0xc0 [ 521.456027] ? elv_merge+0x115/0x140 [ 521.456191] bfq_limit_depth+0xc8/0x240 [ 521.456366] __blk_mq_alloc_requests+0x21a/0x2c0 [ 521.456577] blk_mq_submit_bio+0x23c/0x6c0 [ 521.456766] __submit_bio+0xb8/0x140 [ 521.457236] submit_bio_noacct_nocheck+0x212/0x300 [ 521.457748] submit_bio_noacct+0x1a6/0x580 [ 521.458220] submit_bio+0x43/0x80 [ 521.458660] ext4_io_submit+0x23/0x80 [ 521.459116] ext4_do_writepages+0x40a/0xd00 [ 521.459596] ext4_writepages+0x65/0x100 [ 521.460050] do_writepages+0xb7/0x1c0 [ 521.460492] __filemap_fdatawrite_range+0xa6/0x100 [ 521.460979] file_write_and_wait_range+0xbf/0x140 [ 521.461452] ext4_sync_file+0x105/0x340 [ 521.461882] __x64_sys_fsync+0x67/0x100 [ 521.462305] ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x2c/0x1c0 [ 521.462768] do_syscall_64+0x3b/0xc0 [ 521.463165] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x5a/0xc4 [ 521.463621] RIP: 0033:0x5640b6c56590 [ 521.464006] Code: 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 83 c8 ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 80 3d 71 70 0e 00 00 74 17 b8 4a 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 00 f0 ff ff 77 48 c3 0f 1f 80 00 00 00 00 48 83 ec 18 89 7c

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-54242 since 12/30/2025. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 6.1.30 or 6.3.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 1655cfc85250a224b0d9486c8136baeea33b9b5c/c0346a59d719461248c6dc6f21c9e55ef836b66f/e53413f8deedf738a6782cc14cc00bd5852ccf18 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-2025-2941). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• IBM Power Hardware Management Console
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• IBM DataPower 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
• 6.1.25
• 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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CPE 2.2info

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Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

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

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