CVE-2023-53487
powerpc/rtas_flash: allow user copy to flash block cache objects
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/rtas_flash: allow user copy to flash block cache objects With hardened usercopy enabled (CONFIG_HARDENED_USERCOPY=y), using the /proc/powerpc/rtas/firmware_update interface to prepare a system firmware update yields a BUG(): kernel BUG at mm/usercopy.c:102! Oops: Exception in kernel mode, sig: 5 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA pSeries Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 2232 Comm: dd Not tainted 6.5.0-rc3+ #2 Hardware name: IBM,8408-E8E POWER8E (raw) 0x4b0201 0xf000004 of:IBM,FW860.50 (SV860_146) hv:phyp pSeries NIP: c0000000005991d0 LR: c0000000005991cc CTR: 0000000000000000 REGS: c0000000148c76a0 TRAP: 0700 Not tainted (6.5.0-rc3+) MSR: 8000000000029033 <SF,EE,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 24002242 XER: 0000000c CFAR: c0000000001fbd34 IRQMASK: 0 [ ... GPRs omitted ... ] NIP usercopy_abort+0xa0/0xb0 LR usercopy_abort+0x9c/0xb0 Call Trace: usercopy_abort+0x9c/0xb0 (unreliable) __check_heap_object+0x1b4/0x1d0 __check_object_size+0x2d0/0x380 rtas_flash_write+0xe4/0x250 proc_reg_write+0xfc/0x160 vfs_write+0xfc/0x4e0 ksys_write+0x90/0x160 system_call_exception+0x178/0x320 system_call_common+0x160/0x2c4 The blocks of the firmware image are copied directly from user memory to objects allocated from flash_block_cache, so flash_block_cache must be created using kmem_cache_create_usercopy() to mark it safe for user access. [mpe: Trim and indent oops]
INFO
Published Date :
Oct. 1, 2025, 12:15 p.m.
Last Modified :
Oct. 2, 2025, 7:12 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Solution
- Create flash_block_cache using kmem_cache_create_usercopy.
- Ensure usercopy is marked safe for user access.
- Apply the Linux kernel patch.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2023-53487.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2023-53487 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2023-53487
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2023-53487 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2023-53487 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
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New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Oct. 01, 2025
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/rtas_flash: allow user copy to flash block cache objects With hardened usercopy enabled (CONFIG_HARDENED_USERCOPY=y), using the /proc/powerpc/rtas/firmware_update interface to prepare a system firmware update yields a BUG(): kernel BUG at mm/usercopy.c:102! Oops: Exception in kernel mode, sig: 5 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA pSeries Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 2232 Comm: dd Not tainted 6.5.0-rc3+ #2 Hardware name: IBM,8408-E8E POWER8E (raw) 0x4b0201 0xf000004 of:IBM,FW860.50 (SV860_146) hv:phyp pSeries NIP: c0000000005991d0 LR: c0000000005991cc CTR: 0000000000000000 REGS: c0000000148c76a0 TRAP: 0700 Not tainted (6.5.0-rc3+) MSR: 8000000000029033 <SF,EE,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 24002242 XER: 0000000c CFAR: c0000000001fbd34 IRQMASK: 0 [ ... GPRs omitted ... ] NIP usercopy_abort+0xa0/0xb0 LR usercopy_abort+0x9c/0xb0 Call Trace: usercopy_abort+0x9c/0xb0 (unreliable) __check_heap_object+0x1b4/0x1d0 __check_object_size+0x2d0/0x380 rtas_flash_write+0xe4/0x250 proc_reg_write+0xfc/0x160 vfs_write+0xfc/0x4e0 ksys_write+0x90/0x160 system_call_exception+0x178/0x320 system_call_common+0x160/0x2c4 The blocks of the firmware image are copied directly from user memory to objects allocated from flash_block_cache, so flash_block_cache must be created using kmem_cache_create_usercopy() to mark it safe for user access. [mpe: Trim and indent oops] Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0ba7f969be599e21d4b1f1e947593de6515f4996 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1d29e21ed09fa668416fa7721e08d451b9903485 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f3175979e62de3b929bfa54a0db4b87d36257a7 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6acb8a453388374fafb3c3b37534b675b2aa0ae1 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8ef25fb13494e35c6dbe15445c7875fa92bc3e8b Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8f09cc15dcd91d16562400c51d24c7be0d5796fa Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8fee83aa4ed3846c7f50a0b364bc699f48d96e5