Executive brief
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel for ARM64 systems could cause the system to track internal operations incorrectly, leading to excessive memory usage or system instability. This occurs because the kernel fails to properly identify and trim interrupt-related entries from its internal call history. While primarily affecting system performance and stability, it can lead to kernel warnings or crashes in specific debugging configurations.
Technical details
A vulnerability in the arm64 architecture of the Linux kernel stems from how filter_irq_stacks() and in_irqentry_text() identify interrupt entries. When CONFIG_FUNCTION_GRAPH_TRACER is disabled, the gic_handle_irq symbol (the primary IRQ entry point) is not correctly placed between __irqentry_text_start and __irqentry_text_end. This causes the kernel to fail to truncate IRQ-related entries from the call stack. In environments with KASAN (Kernel Address Sanitizer) enabled, this leads to 'unintentional deep call stack entries' that can reach the limit capacity of the stack depot, triggering kernel warnings and potential stability issues. The fix involves ensuring __exception_irq_entry is correctly set with __irq_entry as a default to properly mark these sections.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel arm64 architecture
Timeline
- 2023-04-24: disclosed: Initial patch submitted by Youngmin Nam
- 2024-03-01: patched: Patch committed to stable tree by Greg Kroah-Hartman
- 2025-12-30: advisory: CVE-2023-54322 published
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0bd309f22663f3ee749bea0b6d70642c31a1c0a5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/47d74b54180b6b296b489b7895011c9a28979ff1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c71d6934c6ac40a97146a410e0320768c7b1bb3c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d3b219e504fc5c5a25fa7c04c8589ff34baef9a8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f6794950f0e5ba37e3bbedda4d6ab0aad7395dd3