CVE-2023-52816 – This CVE describes a shift out-of-bounds vulner... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-52816?

CVE-2023-52816 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (HIGH). This CVE describes a shift out-of-bounds vulnerability in the AMD GPU kernel driver (drm/amdkfd) in the Linux kernel. It allows local attackers to cause a kernel panic or potentially execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Systems using AMD GPUs with the affected kernel driver are vulnerable.

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes a shift out-of-bounds vulnerability in the AMD GPU kernel driver (drm/amdkfd) in the Linux kernel. It allows local attackers to cause a kernel panic or potentially execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Systems using AMD GPUs with the affected kernel driver are vulnerable.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Linux kernel with AMD GPU driver (amdgpu)

Versions: Linux kernel versions before the fix commits (specific versions vary by distribution)

Operating Systems: Linux distributions with affected kernel versions

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Requires AMD GPU hardware and the amdgpu kernel driver loaded. Systems without AMD GPUs or with the driver disabled are not affected.

📦 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 →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Local privilege escalation to kernel-level access leading to full system compromise, data theft, or persistent backdoor installation.

🟠

Likely Case

Kernel panic leading to denial of service (system crash) and potential data corruption.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited to denial of service if proper kernel hardening and privilege separation are implemented.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - Requires local access to exploit, not remotely exploitable.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Local users or compromised accounts could exploit this to escalate privileges or crash systems.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires local access and knowledge of triggering the specific code path in the AMD KFD driver. The vulnerability is in memory management code during page fault handling.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Fixed in kernel commits: 2806f8803792, 282c1d793076, 3f7a400d5e80, 56649c43d40c, d33a35b13cbf

Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2806f880379232e789957c2078d612669eb7a69c

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update Linux kernel to version containing the fix commits. 2. For Ubuntu: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade linux-image-generic. 3. For RHEL/CentOS: sudo yum update kernel. 4. Reboot system to load new kernel.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable AMD GPU driver

linux

Prevent loading of the vulnerable amdgpu kernel module

echo 'blacklist amdgpu' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-amdgpu.conf
sudo update-initramfs -u
sudo reboot

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Restrict local user access to systems with AMD GPUs
Implement strict privilege separation and limit users who can trigger GPU operations

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check kernel version and if amdgpu module is loaded: uname -r && lsmod | grep amdgpu

Check Version:

uname -r

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify kernel version includes fix commits: grep -q '2806f8803792\|282c1d793076\|3f7a400d5e80\|56649c43d40c\|d33a35b13cbf' /proc/version_signature

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Kernel panic messages with 'shift exponent 255 is too large'
amdgpu driver crash in dmesg
UBSAN shift-out-of-bounds warnings

Network Indicators:

None - local exploitation only

SIEM Query:

source="kernel" AND "shift exponent" AND "too large"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-52816

CVSS v3 Score: 7.8 (HIGH)

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

CWE: CWE-787

Published: May 21, 2024

Last Updated: September 23, 2025

🔗 References

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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