Bug 2405719 (CVE-2023-53731)

Summary: CVE-2023-53731 kernel: Kernel: Denial of Service due to a Netlink subsystem deadlock
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A local attacker with low privileges could exploit a timing issue, specifically a potential deadlock in the Netlink communication subsystem. This could cause the system to become unresponsive, leading to a Denial of Service (DoS).
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2025-10-22 14:01:50 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netlink: fix potential deadlock in netlink_set_err()

syzbot reported a possible deadlock in netlink_set_err() [1]

A similar issue was fixed in commit 1d482e666b8e ("netlink: disable IRQs
for netlink_lock_table()") in netlink_lock_table()

This patch adds IRQ safety to netlink_set_err() and __netlink_diag_dump()
which were not covered by cited commit.

[1]

WARNING: possible irq lock inversion dependency detected
6.4.0-rc6-syzkaller-00240-g4e9f0ec38852 #0 Not tainted

syz-executor.2/23011 just changed the state of lock:
ffffffff8e1a7a58 (nl_table_lock){.+.?}-{2:2}, at: netlink_set_err+0x2e/0x3a0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1612
but this lock was taken by another, SOFTIRQ-safe lock in the past:
 (&local->queue_stop_reason_lock){..-.}-{2:2}

and interrupts could create inverse lock ordering between them.

other info that might help us debug this:
 Possible interrupt unsafe locking scenario:

       CPU0                    CPU1
       ----                    ----
  lock(nl_table_lock);
                               local_irq_disable();
                               lock(&local->queue_stop_reason_lock);
                               lock(nl_table_lock);
  <Interrupt>
    lock(&local->queue_stop_reason_lock);

 *** DEADLOCK ***