Linux Kernel up to 5.10.189/5.15.125/6.1.44/6.4.9 kvmalloc_array allocation of resources

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.189/5.15.125/6.1.44/6.4.9. This affects the function kvmalloc_array. The manipulation leads to allocation of resources. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2023-54194. There is not any exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.189/5.15.125/6.1.44/6.4.9. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects the function kvmalloc_array. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a allocation of resources vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-770. The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: exfat: use kvmalloc_array/kvfree instead of kmalloc_array/kfree The call stack shown below is a scenario in the Linux 4.19 kernel. Allocating memory failed where exfat fs use kmalloc_array due to system memory fragmentation, while the u-disk was inserted without recognition. Devices such as u-disk using the exfat file system are pluggable and may be insert into the system at any time. However, long-term running systems cannot guarantee the continuity of physical memory. Therefore, it's necessary to address this issue. Binder:2632_6: page allocation failure: order:4, mode:0x6040c0(GFP_KERNEL|__GFP_COMP), nodemask=(null) Call trace: [242178.097582] dump_backtrace+0x0/0x4 [242178.097589] dump_stack+0xf4/0x134 [242178.097598] warn_alloc+0xd8/0x144 [242178.097603] __alloc_pages_nodemask+0x1364/0x1384 [242178.097608] kmalloc_order+0x2c/0x510 [242178.097612] kmalloc_order_trace+0x40/0x16c [242178.097618] __kmalloc+0x360/0x408 [242178.097624] load_alloc_bitmap+0x160/0x284 [242178.097628] exfat_fill_super+0xa3c/0xe7c [242178.097635] mount_bdev+0x2e8/0x3a0 [242178.097638] exfat_fs_mount+0x40/0x50 [242178.097643] mount_fs+0x138/0x2e8 [242178.097649] vfs_kern_mount+0x90/0x270 [242178.097655] do_mount+0x798/0x173c [242178.097659] ksys_mount+0x114/0x1ac [242178.097665] __arm64_sys_mount+0x24/0x34 [242178.097671] el0_svc_common+0xb8/0x1b8 [242178.097676] el0_svc_handler+0x74/0x90 [242178.097681] el0_svc+0x8/0x340 By analyzing the exfat code,we found that continuous physical memory is not required here,so kvmalloc_array is used can solve this problem.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-54194 since 12/30/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 280805 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54194), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.190, 5.15.126, 6.1.45 or 6.4.10 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 79d16a84ea41272dfcb0c00f9798ddd0edd8098d/8a34a242cf03211cc89f68308d149b793f63c479/1427a7e96fb90d0896f74f5bcd21feb03cc7c3d0/0c5c3e8a2550b6b2a304b45f260296db9c09df96/daf60d6cca26e50d65dac374db92e58de745ad26 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 Tenable (280805). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.189
• 5.15.125
• 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
• 6.4.0
• 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

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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