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CVE Record

CVE-2023-54008: virtio_vdpa: build affinity masks conditionally

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: virtio_vdpa: build affinity masks conditionally We try to build affinity mask via create_affinity_masks() unconditionally which may lead several issues: - the affinity mask is not used for parent without affinity support (only VDUSE support the affinity now) - the logic of create_affinity_masks() might not work for devices other than block. For example it's not rare in the networking device where the number of queues could exceed the number of CPUs. Such case breaks the current affinity logic which is based on group_cpus_evenly() who assumes the number of CPUs are not less than the number of groups. This can trigger a warning[1]: if (ret >= 0) WARN_ON(nr_present + nr_others < numgrps); Fixing this by only build the affinity masks only when - Driver passes affinity descriptor, driver like virtio-blk can make sure to limit the number of queues when it exceeds the number of CPUs - Parent support affinity setting config ops This help to avoid the warning. More optimizations could be done on top. [1] [ 682.146655] WARNING: CPU: 6 PID: 1550 at lib/group_cpus.c:400 group_cpus_evenly+0x1aa/0x1c0 [ 682.146668] CPU: 6 PID: 1550 Comm: vdpa Not tainted 6.5.0-rc5jason+ #79 [ 682.146671] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.2-0-gea1b7a073390-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [ 682.146673] RIP: 0010:group_cpus_evenly+0x1aa/0x1c0 [ 682.146676] Code: 4c 89 e0 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e c3 cc cc cc cc e8 1b c4 74 ff 48 89 ef e8 13 ac 98 ff 4c 89 e7 45 31 e4 e8 08 ac 98 ff eb c2 <0f> 0b eb b6 e8 fd 05 c3 00 45 31 e4 eb e5 cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc [ 682.146679] RSP: 0018:ffffc9000215f498 EFLAGS: 00010293 [ 682.146682] RAX: 000000000001f1e0 RBX: 0000000000000041 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 682.146684] RDX: ffff888109922058 RSI: 0000000000000041 RDI: 0000000000000030 [ 682.146686] RBP: ffff888109922058 R08: ffffc9000215f498 R09: ffffc9000215f4a0 [ 682.146687] R10: 00000000000198d0 R11: 0000000000000030 R12: ffff888107e02800 [ 682.146689] R13: 0000000000000030 R14: 0000000000000030 R15: 0000000000000041 [ 682.146692] FS: 00007fef52315740(0000) GS:ffff888237380000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 682.146695] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 682.146696] CR2: 00007fef52509000 CR3: 0000000110dbc004 CR4: 0000000000370ee0 [ 682.146698] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [ 682.146700] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [ 682.146701] Call Trace: [ 682.146703] <TASK> [ 682.146705] ? __warn+0x7b/0x130 [ 682.146709] ? group_cpus_evenly+0x1aa/0x1c0 [ 682.146712] ? report_bug+0x1c8/0x1e0 [ 682.146717] ? handle_bug+0x3c/0x70 [ 682.146721] ? exc_invalid_op+0x14/0x70 [ 682.146723] ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x16/0x20 [ 682.146727] ? group_cpus_evenly+0x1aa/0x1c0 [ 682.146729] ? group_cpus_evenly+0x15c/0x1c0 [ 682.146731] create_affinity_masks+0xaf/0x1a0 [ 682.146735] virtio_vdpa_find_vqs+0x83/0x1d0 [ 682.146738] ? __pfx_default_calc_sets+0x10/0x10 [ 682.146742] virtnet_find_vqs+0x1f0/0x370 [ 682.146747] virtnet_probe+0x501/0xcd0 [ 682.146749] ? vp_modern_get_status+0x12/0x20 [ 682.146751] ? get_cap_addr.isra.0+0x10/0xc0 [ 682.146754] virtio_dev_probe+0x1af/0x260 [ 682.146759] really_probe+0x1a5/0x410

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysisunknown

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This Linux kernel issue affects specific virtio-vDPA device handling. Under certain virtual device configurations, the kernel builds CPU affinity masks when they are not supported or suitable, which can trigger kernel warnings. The sources do not provide a CVSS score, confirmed exploitation, or a clear business impact beyond stability risk.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted kernel stability issue. Prioritize normal kernel maintenance, with faster action for virtualization hosts using vDPA or virtio-vDPA networking. Current sources do not justify emergency response.

Technical view

virtio_vdpa_find_vqs() called create_affinity_masks() unconditionally. For non-VDUSE parents or devices such as networking with more queues than CPUs, group_cpus_evenly() assumptions could fail and trigger WARN_ON. The resolved change builds affinity masks only when the driver supplies an affinity descriptor and the parent supports affinity config ops.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely on Linux systems using virtio_vdpa/vDPA virtualized devices, especially network devices with queue counts exceeding CPU counts. General Linux hosts not using these kernel paths are less likely to be affected based on the source bundle.

Exploitation context

The bundle marks KEV as false and provides no cited evidence of active exploitation. The described failure is a kernel warning during device probing/configuration, not a documented remote code execution or privilege escalation path.

Researcher notes

Evidence is limited to the CVE record and upstream stable commit references. No CVSS, CWE, exploitability analysis, or downstream distribution status is included. The fix is conditional affinity-mask creation based on driver and parent capability checks.

Mitigation direction

  • Update to a vendor-supported kernel containing the referenced stable virtio_vdpa fix.
  • Check Linux distribution advisories for backported fixes before relying on version numbers.
  • Prioritize systems using vDPA, VDUSE, or virtio-vDPA virtual networking.
  • If patching is delayed, follow vendor guidance for limiting affected vDPA configurations.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernel versions and identify hosts using virtio_vdpa or vDPA devices.
  • Review kernel logs for group_cpus_evenly or create_affinity_masks WARN_ON messages.
  • Confirm vendor kernel changelogs include the referenced virtio_vdpa affinity-mask fix.
  • Validate virtual networking queue counts against CPU counts on affected platforms.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
5

Public sources used

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

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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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
4Source 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

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Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinux3dad56823b5332ffdbe1867b2d7b50fbacea124a, 3dad56823b5332ffdbe1867b2d7b50fbacea124a, 3dad56823b5332ffdbe1867b2d7b50fbacea124aunaffected
LinuxLinux6.4, 0, 6.4.16, 6.5.3, 6.6affected
Weakness

CWE details

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