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CVE Record

CVE-2023-53642: x86: fix clear_user_rep_good() exception handling annotation

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86: fix clear_user_rep_good() exception handling annotation This code no longer exists in mainline, because it was removed in commit d2c95f9d6802 ("x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for user memory clearing") upstream. However, rather than backport the full range of x86 memory clearing and copying cleanups, fix the exception table annotation placement for the final 'rep movsb' in clear_user_rep_good(): rather than pointing at the actual instruction that did the user space access, it pointed to the register move just before it. That made sense from a code flow standpoint, but not from an actual usage standpoint: it means that if user access takes an exception, the exception handler won't actually find the instruction in the exception tables. As a result, rather than fixing it up and returning -EFAULT, it would then turn it into a kernel oops report instead, something like: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 0000000020081000 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page ... RIP: 0010:clear_user_rep_good+0x1c/0x30 arch/x86/lib/clear_page_64.S:147 ... Call Trace: __clear_user arch/x86/include/asm/uaccess_64.h:103 [inline] clear_user arch/x86/include/asm/uaccess_64.h:124 [inline] iov_iter_zero+0x709/0x1290 lib/iov_iter.c:800 iomap_dio_hole_iter fs/iomap/direct-io.c:389 [inline] iomap_dio_iter fs/iomap/direct-io.c:440 [inline] __iomap_dio_rw+0xe3d/0x1cd0 fs/iomap/direct-io.c:601 iomap_dio_rw+0x40/0xa0 fs/iomap/direct-io.c:689 ext4_dio_read_iter fs/ext4/file.c:94 [inline] ext4_file_read_iter+0x4be/0x690 fs/ext4/file.c:145 call_read_iter include/linux/fs.h:2183 [inline] do_iter_readv_writev+0x2e0/0x3b0 fs/read_write.c:733 do_iter_read+0x2f2/0x750 fs/read_write.c:796 vfs_readv+0xe5/0x150 fs/read_write.c:916 do_preadv+0x1b6/0x270 fs/read_write.c:1008 __do_sys_preadv2 fs/read_write.c:1070 [inline] __se_sys_preadv2 fs/read_write.c:1061 [inline] __x64_sys_preadv2+0xef/0x150 fs/read_write.c:1061 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x39/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd which then looks like a filesystem bug rather than the incorrect exception annotation that it is. [ The alternative to this one-liner fix is to take the upstream series that cleans this all up: 68674f94ffc9 ("x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for small memory copies") 20f3337d350c ("x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for small memory clearing") adfcf4231b8c ("x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for user memory copies") * d2c95f9d6802 ("x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for user memory clearing") 3639a535587d ("x86: move stac/clac from user copy routines into callers") 577e6a7fd50d ("x86: inline the 'rep movs' in user copies for the FSRM case") 8c9b6a88b7e2 ("x86: improve on the non-rep 'clear_user' function") 427fda2c8a49 ("x86: improve on the non-rep 'copy_user' function") * e046fe5a36a9 ("x86: set FSRS automatically on AMD CPUs that have FSRM") e1f2750edc4a ("x86: remove 'zerorest' argument from __copy_user_nocache()") 034ff37d3407 ("x86: rewrite '__copy_user_nocache' function") with either the whole series or at a minimum the two marked commits being needed to fix this issue ]

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This Linux kernel issue can turn a normally handled bad user-memory access into a kernel oops. In business terms, the main visible risk is system instability or denial of service on affected x86 Linux systems, not confirmed data theft or remote compromise based on the supplied sources.

Executive priority

Treat this as a moderate availability risk until vendor scoring is clearer. Patch through normal kernel update channels, with higher priority for multi-user hosts, shared compute, and production systems where a kernel oops could disrupt service.

Technical view

The bug is an x86 exception-table annotation error in clear_user_rep_good(). The handler pointed before the faulting user-access instruction, so a page fault could miss normal -EFAULT handling and produce a kernel oops. Mainline removed this code; stable branches received targeted fixes or related cleanup commits.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to affected Linux kernel builds using the vulnerable x86 clear_user_rep_good() path. The source bundle lists Linux kernel affected versions including 6.1, 6.2.16, 6.3.3, and 6.4-era data, but exact status should be confirmed against the referenced stable commits.

Exploitation context

The supplied sources do not show CISA KEV listing, active exploitation, public exploit code, or remote exploitation. The described trigger involves user-memory access fault handling and can surface through filesystem read paths, but the bundle does not establish practical exploitability beyond kernel oops behavior.

Researcher notes

The strongest evidence is the kernel description: misplaced exception-table annotation caused user-access faults to bypass fixup and oops. Affected-version metadata is incomplete in the bundle, and no CWE, CVSS, KEV, or exploit confirmation is provided.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply the relevant Linux stable kernel fix from your distribution or kernel vendor.
  • Check whether your kernel includes the referenced stable commits or equivalent backports.
  • Prefer vendor-maintained kernels over manually cherry-picking unless you maintain kernel builds.
  • Monitor vendor advisories for clarified affected ranges and severity scoring.
  • Prioritize systems where local users or workloads can trigger kernel file I/O paths.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory x86 Linux systems and record exact kernel versions and vendor patch levels.
  • Compare running kernels against the referenced stable commits or distribution security advisories.
  • Check crash logs for oops traces involving clear_user_rep_good or iov_iter_zero.
  • Confirm patched kernels boot and workload file I/O regression tests pass.
  • Document systems where affected status cannot be determined from available evidence.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
6

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
0ADP providers
5Source links

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinux0db7058e8e23e6bbab1b4747ecabd1784c34f50b, 0db7058e8e23e6bbab1b4747ecabd1784c34f50b, 0db7058e8e23e6bbab1b4747ecabd1784c34f50b, 0db7058e8e23e6bbab1b4747ecabd1784c34f50bunaffected
LinuxLinux6.1, 0, 6.1.29, 6.2.16, 6.3.3, 6.4affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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