CVE-2023-52774 – A race condition vulnerability in the Linux ker... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-52774?

CVE-2023-52774 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (MEDIUM). A race condition vulnerability in the Linux kernel's s390/dasd driver allows concurrent access to the device queue during profiling operations. This can lead to kernel panics due to incorrect pointer accesses when parallel I/O operations occur, especially with alias devices enabled. Systems running affected Linux kernel versions on s390 architecture are impacted.

📋 TL;DR

A race condition vulnerability in the Linux kernel's s390/dasd driver allows concurrent access to the device queue during profiling operations. This can lead to kernel panics due to incorrect pointer accesses when parallel I/O operations occur, especially with alias devices enabled. Systems running affected Linux kernel versions on s390 architecture are impacted.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Linux kernel

Versions: Specific affected versions not explicitly stated in CVE; check kernel commit history for vulnerable versions before fixes were applied.

Operating Systems: Linux distributions running on s390 architecture

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Vulnerability is specific to s390 architecture DASD driver; impact is higher with alias devices enabled and under heavy parallel I/O loads.

📦 What is this software?

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Kernel panic leading to system crash and denial of service, potentially causing data corruption or loss.

🟠

Likely Case

System instability or crashes under heavy I/O load, particularly in environments with alias devices enabled.

🟢

If Mitigated

Minimal impact with proper kernel patching; systems without alias devices or heavy parallel I/O may not experience issues.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - This is a local kernel vulnerability requiring access to the affected system.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal systems with s390 architecture running affected kernels could experience crashes under specific I/O conditions.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: MEDIUM - Requires triggering race condition through parallel I/O operations.

Exploitation requires local access and ability to generate specific I/O patterns; no public exploits known.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Kernel versions containing commits: 6062c527d0403cef27c54b91ac8390c3a497b250, 9372aab5d0ff621ea203c8c603e7e5f75e888240, c841de6247e94e07566d57163d3c0d8b29278f7a, db46cd1e0426f52999d50fa72cfa97fa39952885, dc96fde8fcb2b896fd6c64802a7f4ece2e69b0be

Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6062c527d0403cef27c54b91ac8390c3a497b250

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update Linux kernel to version containing the fix commits. 2. Check with your distribution vendor for specific patched kernel packages. 3. Reboot system after kernel update.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable alias devices

linux

Reduce likelihood of triggering the race condition by disabling DASD alias devices.

echo 0 > /sys/bus/ccw/drivers/dasd-eckd/alias_device

Limit parallel I/O

linux

Reduce concurrent I/O operations to minimize race condition triggers.

# Configure I/O scheduler limits or reduce workload concurrency

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Monitor system logs for kernel panic indicators and implement rapid recovery procedures.
Isolate affected s390 systems from critical workloads and implement redundancy.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check kernel version and if running on s390 architecture: uname -r && uname -m

Check Version:

uname -r

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify kernel version includes fix commits: git log --oneline | grep -E '6062c527d040|9372aab5d0ff|c841de6247e9|db46cd1e0426|dc96fde8fcb2'

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Kernel panic messages in /var/log/messages or dmesg
OOPs (kernel crash) logs mentioning dasd_profile_start

Network Indicators:

None - local kernel vulnerability

SIEM Query:

source="kernel" AND ("panic" OR "Oops") AND "dasd"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-52774

CVSS v3 Score: 5.5 (MEDIUM)

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

CWE: CWE-476

Published: May 21, 2024

Last Updated: September 23, 2025

🔗 References

📤 Share & Export

📄 Export Markdown 📋 Export JSON

🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

If you're affected by CVE-2023-52774, you might also want to check these: