CVE-2023-53326: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc: Don't try to copy PPR for task with NULL pt_regs powerpc sets up PF_KTH...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc: Don't try to copy PPR for task with NULL pt_regs powerpc sets up PF_KTHREAD and PF_IO_WORKER with a NULL pt_regs, which from my (arguably very short) checking is not commonly done for other archs. This is fine, except when PF_IO_WORKER's have been created and the task does something that causes a coredump to be generated. Then we get this crash: Kernel attempted to read user page (160) - exploit attempt? (uid: 1000) BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000160 Faulting instruction address: 0xc0000000000c3a60 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Radix SMP NR_CPUS=32 NUMA pSeries Modules linked in: bochs drm_vram_helper drm_kms_helper xts binfmt_misc ecb ctr syscopyarea sysfillrect cbc sysimgblt drm_ttm_helper aes_generic ttm sg libaes evdev joydev virtio_balloon vmx_crypto gf128mul drm dm_mod fuse loop configfs drm_panel_orientation_quirks ip_tables x_tables autofs4 hid_generic usbhid hid xhci_pci xhci_hcd usbcore usb_common sd_mod CPU: 1 PID: 1982 Comm: ppc-crash Not tainted 6.3.0-rc2+ #88 Hardware name: IBM pSeries (emulated by qemu) POWER9 (raw) 0x4e1202 0xf000005 of:SLOF,HEAD hv:linux,kvm pSeries NIP: c0000000000c3a60 LR: c000000000039944 CTR: c0000000000398e0 REGS: c0000000041833b0 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (6.3.0-rc2+) MSR: 800000000280b033 <SF,VEC,VSX,EE,FP,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 88082828 XER: 200400f8 ... NIP memcpy_power7+0x200/0x7d0 LR ppr_get+0x64/0xb0 Call Trace: ppr_get+0x40/0xb0 (unreliable) __regset_get+0x180/0x1f0 regset_get_alloc+0x64/0x90 elf_core_dump+0xb98/0x1b60 do_coredump+0x1c34/0x24a0 get_signal+0x71c/0x1410 do_notify_resume+0x140/0x6f0 interrupt_exit_user_prepare_main+0x29c/0x320 interrupt_exit_user_prepare+0x6c/0xa0 interrupt_return_srr_user+0x8/0x138 Because ppr_get() is trying to copy from a PF_IO_WORKER with a NULL pt_regs. Check for a valid pt_regs in both ppc_get/ppr_set, and return an error if not set. The actual error value doesn't seem to be important here, so just pick -EINVAL. [mpe: Trim oops in change log, add Fixes & Cc stable]

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

5.5/10

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

EPSS Probability

0.14%

3.3th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions	Update
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 4.8, < 5.10.177	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.11, < 5.15.106	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.16, < 6.1.23	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.2.10	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	6.3	Rc1

References

Timeline

Published: Sep 16, 2025
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-53326?

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc: Don't try to copy PPR for task with NULL pt_regs powerpc sets up PF_KTHREAD and PF_IO_WORKER with a NULL pt_regs, which from my (arguably very short) checking is not commonly done for other archs. This is fine, except when PF_IO_WORKER's have been created and the task does something that causes a coredump to be generated. Then we get this crash: Kernel attempted to read user page (160) - exploit attempt? (uid: 1000) BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000160 Faulting instruction address: 0xc0000000000c3a60 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Radix SMP NR_CPUS=32 NUMA pSeries Modules linked in: bochs drm_vram_helper drm_kms_helper xts binfmt_misc ecb ctr syscopyarea sysfillrect cbc sysimgblt drm_ttm_helper aes_generic ttm sg libaes evdev joydev virtio_balloon vmx_crypto gf128mul drm dm_mod fuse loop configfs drm_panel_orientation_quirks ip_tables x_tables autofs4 hid_generic usbhid hid xhci_pci xhci_hcd usbcore usb_common sd_mod CPU: 1 PID: 1982 Comm: ppc-crash Not tainted 6.3.0-rc2+ #88 Hardware name: IBM pSeries (emulated by qemu) POWER9 (raw) 0x4e1202 0xf000005 of:SLOF,HEAD hv:linux,kvm pSeries NIP: c0000000000c3a60 LR: c000000000039944 CTR: c0000000000398e0 REGS: c0000000041833b0 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (6.3.0-rc2+) MSR: 800000000280b033 <SF,VEC,VSX,EE,FP,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 88082828 XER: 200400f8 ... NIP memcpy_power7+0x200/0x7d0 LR ppr_get+0x64/0xb0 Call Trace: ppr_get+0x40/0xb0 (unreliable) __regset_get+0x180/0x1f0 regset_get_alloc+0x64/0x90 elf_core_dump+0xb98/0x1b60 do_coredump+0x1c34/0x24a0 get_signal+0x71c/0x1410 do_notify_resume+0x140/0x6f0 interrupt_exit_user_prepare_main+0x29c/0x320 interrupt_exit_user_prepare+0x6c/0xa0 interrupt_return_srr_user+0x8/0x138 Because ppr_get() is trying to copy from a PF_IO_WORKER with a NULL pt_regs. Check for a valid pt_regs in both ppc_get/ppr_set, and return an error if not set. The actual error value doesn't seem to be important here, so just pick -EINVAL. [mpe: Trim oops in change log, add Fixes & Cc stable]

How severe is CVE-2023-53326?

CVE-2023-53326 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.14% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2023-53326?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.