In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
vfio/type1: prevent underflow of locked_vm via exec()
When a vfio container is preserved across exec, the task does not change,
but it gets a new mm with locked_vm=0, and loses the count from existing
dma mappings. If the user later unmaps a dma mapping, locked_vm underflows
to a large unsigned value, and a subsequent dma map request fails with
ENOMEM in __account_locked_vm.
To avoid underflow, grab and save the mm at the time a dma is mapped.
Use that mm when adjusting locked_vm, rather than re-acquiring the saved
task's mm, which may have changed. If the saved mm is dead, do nothing.
locked_vm is incremented for existing mappings in a subsequent patch.
vfio/type1: prevent underflow of locked_vm via exec()
When a vfio container is preserved across exec, the task does not change,
but it gets a new mm with locked_vm=0, and loses the count from existing
dma mappings. If the user later unmaps a dma mapping, locked_vm underflows
to a large unsigned value, and a subsequent dma map request fails with
ENOMEM in __account_locked_vm.
To avoid underflow, grab and save the mm at the time a dma is mapped.
Use that mm when adjusting locked_vm, rather than re-acquiring the saved
task's mm, which may have changed. If the saved mm is dead, do nothing.
locked_vm is incremented for existing mappings in a subsequent patch.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:15:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
---|---|---|
Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vfio/type1: prevent underflow of locked_vm via exec() When a vfio container is preserved across exec, the task does not change, but it gets a new mm with locked_vm=0, and loses the count from existing dma mappings. If the user later unmaps a dma mapping, locked_vm underflows to a large unsigned value, and a subsequent dma map request fails with ENOMEM in __account_locked_vm. To avoid underflow, grab and save the mm at the time a dma is mapped. Use that mm when adjusting locked_vm, rather than re-acquiring the saved task's mm, which may have changed. If the saved mm is dead, do nothing. locked_vm is incremented for existing mappings in a subsequent patch. | |
Title | vfio/type1: prevent underflow of locked_vm via exec() | |
References |
|
|

Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2025-09-15T14:04:04.544Z
Reserved: 2025-09-15T13:59:19.064Z
Link: CVE-2023-53171

No data.

Status : Awaiting Analysis
Published: 2025-09-15T14:15:38.940
Modified: 2025-09-15T15:22:27.090
Link: CVE-2023-53171

No data.

No data.