CVE-2023-52911: Vulnerability in Linux Linux

Severity: mediumType: vulnerabilityCVE-2023-52911

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/msm: another fix for the headless Adreno GPU Fix another oops reproducible when rebooting the board with the Adreno GPU working in the headless mode (e.g. iMX platforms). Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000000 when read [00000000] *pgd=74936831, *pte=00000000, *ppte=00000000 Internal error: Oops: 17 [#1] ARM CPU: 0 PID: 51 Comm: reboot Not tainted 6.2.0-rc1-dirty #11 Hardware name: Freescale i.MX53 (Device Tree Support) PC is at msm_atomic_commit_tail+0x50/0x970 LR is at commit_tail+0x9c/0x188 pc : [<c06aa430>] lr : [<c067a214>] psr: 600e0013 sp : e0851d30 ip : ee4eb7eb fp : 00090acc r10: 00000058 r9 : c2193014 r8 : c4310000 r7 : c4759380 r6 : 07bef61d r5 : 00000000 r4 : 00000000 r3 : c44cc440 r2 : 00000000 r1 : 00000000 r0 : 00000000 Flags: nZCv IRQs on FIQs on Mode SVC_32 ISA ARM Segment none Control: 10c5387d Table: 74910019 DAC: 00000051 Register r0 information: NULL pointer Register r1 information: NULL pointer Register r2 information: NULL pointer Register r3 information: slab kmalloc-1k start c44cc400 pointer offset 64 size 1024 Register r4 information: NULL pointer Register r5 information: NULL pointer Register r6 information: non-paged memory Register r7 information: slab kmalloc-128 start c4759380 pointer offset 0 size 128 Register r8 information: slab kmalloc-2k start c4310000 pointer offset 0 size 2048 Register r9 information: non-slab/vmalloc memory Register r10 information: non-paged memory Register r11 information: non-paged memory Register r12 information: non-paged memory Process reboot (pid: 51, stack limit = 0xc80046d9) Stack: (0xe0851d30 to 0xe0852000) 1d20: c4759380 fbd77200 000005ff 002b9c70 1d40: c4759380 c4759380 00000000 07bef61d 00000600 c0d6fe7c c2193014 00000058 1d60: 00090acc c067a214 00000000 c4759380 c4310000 00000000 c44cc854 c067a89c 1d80: 00000000 00000000 00000000 c4310468 00000000 c4759380 c4310000 c4310468 1da0: c4310470 c0643258 c4759380 00000000 00000000 c0c4ee24 00000000 c44cc810 1dc0: 00000000 c0c4ee24 00000000 c44cc810 00000000 0347d2a8 e0851e00 e0851e00 1de0: c4759380 c067ad20 c4310000 00000000 c44cc810 c27f8718 c44cc854 c067adb8 1e00: c4933000 00000002 00000001 00000000 00000000 c2130850 00000000 c2130854 1e20: c25fc488 00000000 c0ff162c 00000000 00000001 00000002 00000000 00000000 1e40: c43102c0 c43102c0 00000000 0347d2a8 c44cc810 c44cc814 c2133da8 c06d1a60 1e60: 00000000 00000000 00079028 c2012f24 fee1dead c4933000 00000058 c01431e4 1e80: 01234567 c0143a20 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 1ea0: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 1ec0: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 1ee0: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 1f00: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 1f20: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 1f40: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 1f60: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 1f80: 00000000 00000000 00000000 0347d2a8 00000002 00000004 00000078 00000058 1fa0: c010028c c0100060 00000002 00000004 fee1dead 28121969 01234567 00079028 1fc0: 00000002 00000004 00000078 00000058 0002fdc5 00000000 00000000 00090acc 1fe0: 00000058 becc9c64 b6e97e05 b6e0e5f6 600e0030 fee1dead 00000000 00000000 msm_atomic_commit_tail from commit_tail+0x9c/0x188 commit_tail from drm_atomic_helper_commit+0x160/0x188 drm_atomic_helper_commit from drm_atomic_commit+0xac/0xe0 drm_atomic_commit from drm_atomic_helper_disable_all+0x1b0/0x1c0 drm_atomic_helper_disable_all from drm_atomic_helper_shutdown+0x88/0x140 drm_atomic_helper_shutdown from device_shutdown+0x16c/0x240 device_shutdown from kernel_restart+0x38/0x90 kernel_restart from __do_sys_reboot+0x ---truncated---

AI Analysis

Technical Summary

CVE-2023-52911 is a vulnerability identified in the Linux kernel specifically related to the Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) subsystem for the MSM (Qualcomm Snapdragon) platform's Adreno GPU driver. The issue manifests as a kernel NULL pointer dereference when the Adreno GPU operates in headless mode, such as on iMX platforms (e.g., Freescale i.MX53). The vulnerability causes a kernel oops (crash) during system reboot sequences when the GPU is active but headless, leading to an inability to handle a NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0x00000000. This results in an internal kernel error, causing the system to crash or reboot unexpectedly. The technical details indicate that the fault occurs in the function msm_atomic_commit_tail within the DRM driver code path. The problem arises from improper handling of GPU state transitions during shutdown or reboot, specifically when the GPU is headless and certain pointers are NULL. This vulnerability affects specific Linux kernel versions identified by commit hashes, and it has been addressed in recent kernel patches. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no CVSS score has been assigned yet. The vulnerability is relevant primarily to embedded Linux systems using Qualcomm Adreno GPUs in headless mode, such as industrial or IoT devices based on iMX platforms.

Potential Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-52911 is primarily on embedded systems and industrial devices running Linux kernels with Qualcomm Adreno GPUs in headless mode. Such devices may be used in manufacturing, automotive, telecommunications, or IoT deployments. The vulnerability can cause system crashes or reboots during shutdown or reboot sequences, leading to potential operational disruptions, loss of availability, and increased maintenance costs. While it does not directly lead to privilege escalation or data leakage, the denial of service caused by kernel crashes can affect critical infrastructure or production environments. Organizations relying on embedded Linux devices with affected hardware may experience unexpected downtime or degraded reliability. Since the vulnerability is triggered during reboot or shutdown, it may also complicate patch management or system updates, increasing operational risk. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate threat but does not eliminate risk, especially in environments where stability and uptime are critical.

Mitigation Recommendations

To mitigate CVE-2023-52911, European organizations should: 1) Identify all embedded Linux systems using Qualcomm Adreno GPUs in headless mode, particularly on iMX platforms or similar hardware. 2) Apply the latest Linux kernel patches that address this vulnerability as soon as they become available from trusted sources or vendor distributions. 3) Where immediate patching is not feasible, implement operational controls such as scheduled reboots during maintenance windows to minimize impact and monitor system logs for kernel oops related to GPU operations. 4) Engage with hardware and software vendors to confirm patch availability and support status for affected devices. 5) Consider isolating or segmenting vulnerable embedded devices to reduce risk of cascading failures in critical networks. 6) Test updated kernels in controlled environments to ensure stability before wide deployment. 7) Maintain robust backup and recovery procedures to quickly restore affected systems in case of crashes. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on embedded device inventory, patch management coordination with vendors, and operational controls tailored to headless GPU scenarios.