CVE-2023-53370
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a memory leak vulnerability in the AMD GPU driver (drm/amdgpu) within the Linux kernel's MES (Micro-Engine Scheduler) self-test functionality. When exploited, it causes gradual memory exhaustion by failing to free fences associated with MES queues during driver cleanup. This affects Linux systems with AMD GPUs using the affected kernel versions.
💻 Affected Systems
- Linux kernel with AMD GPU driver (drm/amdgpu)
📦 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 →⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Sustained exploitation could lead to complete system memory exhaustion, causing kernel panics, system crashes, or denial of service conditions that require physical intervention to recover.
Likely Case
Gradual memory consumption leading to system instability, performance degradation, and potential application crashes over time as memory becomes exhausted.
If Mitigated
With proper monitoring and memory limits, impact is limited to performance degradation and potential service interruptions rather than complete system failure.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires triggering the MES self-test functionality, which typically requires appropriate permissions. The vulnerability is in cleanup code, so exploitation requires repeated triggering to cause memory exhaustion.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Kernel versions containing commits 31d7c3a4fc3d312a0646990767647925d5bde540, 8d8c96efcec95736622381b2afc0fe9e317f88aa, or ce3288d8d654b252ba832626e7de481c195ef20a
Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/31d7c3a4fc3d312a0646990767647925d5bde540
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update Linux kernel to patched version from your distribution's repositories. 2. For custom kernels, apply the relevant commit from kernel.org. 3. Rebuild and install the kernel if compiling from source. 4. No system restart required for kernel module updates, but GPU driver may need reloading.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable MES functionality
allPrevent use of the vulnerable MES scheduler by disabling it via kernel parameters
Add 'amdgpu.mes=0' to kernel boot parameters in GRUB configuration
Limit memory usage
allImplement memory limits to prevent complete exhaustion
Use cgroups to limit memory for GPU-related processes: 'cgcreate -g memory:gpu_limit'
Set memory limit: 'cgset -r memory.limit_in_bytes=2G gpu_limit'
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Monitor system memory usage closely and set up alerts for abnormal consumption patterns
- Restrict access to GPU functionality to trusted users only
- Implement regular system reboots to clear accumulated memory leaks
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check kernel version and if AMD GPU driver is loaded: 'uname -r' and 'lsmod | grep amdgpu'Check Version:
uname -rVerify Fix Applied:
Verify kernel version includes the fix commits: 'git log --oneline | grep -E "31d7c3a4fc3d|8d8c96efcec9|ce3288d8d654"' or check distribution patch notes📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Kernel OOM (Out of Memory) messages in dmesg
- Increasing memory usage by GPU processes over time
- System performance degradation logs
Network Indicators:
- None - this is a local memory management issue
SIEM Query:
source="kernel" AND ("Out of memory" OR "oom-killer" OR "memory allocation failure") AND process="amdgpu"