CVE-2023-53798

Public on

Last Modified: UTC

Low Low Impact What does this mean?
5.5 CVSS v3 Base Score

Description

The MITRE CVE dictionary describes this issue as

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ethtool: Fix uninitialized number of lanes It is not possible to set the number of lanes when setting link modes using the legacy IOCTL ethtool interface. Since 'struct ethtool_link_ksettings' is not initialized in this path, drivers receive an uninitialized number of lanes in 'struct ethtool_link_ksettings::lanes'. When this information is later queried from drivers, it results in the ethtool code making decisions based on uninitialized memory, leading to the following KMSAN splat [1]. In practice, this most likely only happens with the tun driver that simply returns whatever it got in the set operation. As far as I can tell, this uninitialized memory is not leaked to user space thanks to the 'ethtool_ops->cap_link_lanes_supported' check in linkmodes_prepare_data(). Fix by initializing the structure in the IOCTL path. Did not find any more call sites that pass an uninitialized structure when calling 'ethtool_ops::set_link_ksettings()'. [1] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in ethnl_update_linkmodes net/ethtool/linkmodes.c:273 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in ethnl_set_linkmodes+0x190b/0x19d0 net/ethtool/linkmodes.c:333 ethnl_update_linkmodes net/ethtool/linkmodes.c:273 [inline] ethnl_set_linkmodes+0x190b/0x19d0 net/ethtool/linkmodes.c:333 ethnl_default_set_doit+0x88d/0xde0 net/ethtool/netlink.c:640 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit net/netlink/genetlink.c:968 [inline] genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:1048 [inline] genl_rcv_msg+0x141a/0x14c0 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1065 netlink_rcv_skb+0x3f8/0x750 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2577 genl_rcv+0x40/0x60 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1076 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 [inline] netlink_unicast+0xf41/0x1270 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1365 netlink_sendmsg+0x127d/0x1430 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1942 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:724 [inline] sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:747 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0xa24/0xe40 net/socket.c:2501 ___sys_sendmsg+0x2a1/0x3f0 net/socket.c:2555 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2584 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2593 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2591 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x36b/0x540 net/socket.c:2591 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x41/0xc0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd Uninit was stored to memory at: tun_get_link_ksettings+0x37/0x60 drivers/net/tun.c:3544 __ethtool_get_link_ksettings+0x17b/0x260 net/ethtool/ioctl.c:441 ethnl_set_linkmodes+0xee/0x19d0 net/ethtool/linkmodes.c:327 ethnl_default_set_doit+0x88d/0xde0 net/ethtool/netlink.c:640 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit net/netlink/genetlink.c:968 [inline] genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:1048 [inline] genl_rcv_msg+0x141a/0x14c0 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1065 netlink_rcv_skb+0x3f8/0x750 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2577 genl_rcv+0x40/0x60 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1076 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 [inline] netlink_unicast+0xf41/0x1270 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1365 netlink_sendmsg+0x127d/0x1430 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1942 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:724 [inline] sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:747 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0xa24/0xe40 net/socket.c:2501 ___sys_sendmsg+0x2a1/0x3f0 net/socket.c:2555 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2584 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2593 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2591 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x36b/0x540 net/socket.c:2591 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x41/0xc0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd Uninit was stored to memory at: tun_set_link_ksettings+0x37/0x60 drivers/net/tun.c:3553 ethtool_set_link_ksettings+0x600/0x690 net/ethtool/ioctl.c:609 __dev_ethtool net/ethtool/ioctl.c:3024 [inline] dev_ethtool+0x1db9/0x2a70 net/ethtool/ioctl.c:3078 dev_ioctl+0xb07/0x1270 net/core/dev_ioctl.c:524 sock_do_ioctl+0x295/0x540 net/socket.c:1213 sock_i ---truncated---

Additional Information

External References

Content from www.cve.org is not included.https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53798

Content from nvd.nist.gov is not included.https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53798

Content from lore.kernel.org is not included.https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2025120942-CVE-2023-53798-7845@gregkh/T

Affected Packages and Issued Red Hat Security Errata

Products / Services Components State Errata
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernel Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 kernel Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 kernel Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 kernel-rt Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 kernel-rt Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 kernel Fixed RHSA-2024:3138
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 kernel Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 kernel-rt Fix deferred
Unless explicitly stated as not affected, all previous versions of packages in any minor update stream of a product listed here should be assumed vulnerable, although may not have been subject to full analysis.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authorities (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications ).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown Red Hat NVD
CVSS v3 Base Score 5.5
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required Low
User Interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact None
Integrity Impact None
Availability Impact High

CVSS v3 Vector

Red Hat CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
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What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?

 A deferred status means that a fix for an affected product version is not guaranteed due to higher-priority development work.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a This content is not included.support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.
  • Red Hat Engineering focuses on addressing high-priority issues based on their complexity or limited lifecycle support. Therefore, lower-priority issues will not receive immediate fixes.

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I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?

 The listed products were found to include one or more of the components that this vulnerability affects. These products underwent a thorough evaluation to determine their affectedness by this vulnerability. Note that layered products (such as container-based offerings) that consume affected components from any of the products listed in this table may be affected and are not represented.

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My product is listed as "Out of Support Scope". What does this mean?

 When a product is listed as "Out of Support Scope", it means a vulnerability with the impact level assigned to this CVE is no longer covered by its current support lifecycle phase. The product has been identified to contain the impacted component, but analysis to determine whether it is affected or not by this vulnerability was not performed. The product should be assumed to be affected. Customers are advised to apply any mitigation options documented on this page, consider removing or disabling the impacted component, or upgrade to a supported version of the product that has an update available.