CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-53331 — Linux Linux Kernel security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: pstore/ram: Check start of empty przs during init After commit 30696378f68a ("pstore/ram: Do not treat empty buffers as valid"), initialization would assume a prz was valid after seeing that the buffer_size is zero (regardless of the buffer start position). This unchecked start value means it could be outside the bounds of the buffer, leading to future access panics when written to: sysdump_panic_event+0x3b4/0x5b8 atomic_notifier_call_chain+0x54/0x90 panic+0x1c8/0x42c die+0x29c/0x2a8 die_kernel_fault+0x68/0x78 __do_kernel_fault+0x1c4/0x1e0 do_bad_area+0x40/0x100 do_translation_fault+0x68/0x80 do_mem_abort+0x68/0xf8 el1_da+0x1c/0xc0 __raw_writeb+0x38/0x174 __memcpy_toio+0x40/0xac persistent_ram_update+0x44/0x12c persistent_ram_write+0x1a8/0x1b8 ramoops_pstore_write+0x198/0x1e8 pstore_console_write+0x94/0xe0 ... To avoid this, also check if the prz start is 0 during the initialization phase. If not, the next prz sanity check case will discover it (start > size) and zap the buffer back to a sane state. [kees: update commit log with backtrace and clarifications]

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2025-09-16
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
linux/kernel
Weaknesses
CWE-787

Affected products

  • linux / linux_kernel

Showing 1 representative product identities from 11 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

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Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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