CVE-2023-53599
- Published: 2025-10-04T16:15:56.497
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
crypto: af_alg – Fix missing initialisation affecting gcm-aes-s390
Fix af_alg_alloc_areq() to initialise areq->first_rsgl.sgl.sgt.sgl to point
to the scatterlist array in areq->first_rsgl.sgl.sgl.
Without this, the gcm-aes-s390 driver will oops when it tries to do
gcm_walk_start() on req->dst because req->dst is set to the value of
areq->first_rsgl.sgl.sgl by _aead_recvmsg() calling
aead_request_set_crypt().
The problem comes if an empty ciphertext is passed: the loop in
af_alg_get_rsgl() just passes straight out and doesn’t set areq->first_rsgl
up.
This isn’t a problem on x86_64 using gcmaes_crypt_by_sg() because, as far
as I can tell, that ignores req->dst and only uses req->src[*].
[*] Is this a bug in aesni-intel_glue.c?
The s390x oops looks something like:
Unable to handle kernel pointer dereference in virtual kernel address space
Failing address: 0000000a00000000 TEID: 0000000a00000803
Fault in home space mode while using kernel ASCE.
AS:00000000a43a0007 R3:0000000000000024
Oops: 003b ilc:2 [#1] SMP
…
Call Trace:
[] gcm_walk_start+0x16/0x28 [aes_s390]
[] crypto_aead_decrypt+0x9a/0xb8
[] aead_recvmsg+0x478/0x698
[] sock_recvmsg+0x70/0xb0
[] sock_read_iter+0x76/0xa0
[] vfs_read+0x26e/0x2a8
[] ksys_read+0xbc/0x100
[] __do_syscall+0x1d0/0x1f8
[] system_call+0x70/0x98
Last Breaking-Event-Address:
[] gcm_aes_crypt+0x104/0xa68 [aes_s390]
Related CVE by CWE
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How to fix CVE-2023-53599
Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: af_alg – Fix missing initialisation affecting gcm-aes-s390 Fix af_alg_alloc_areq() to initialise areq->first_rsgl.sgl.sgt.sgl to point to the scatterlist array in areq->first_rsgl.sgl.sgl. Without this, the gcm-aes-s390 driver will oops when it tries to do gcm_walk_start() on req->dst because req->dst is set to the value of areq->first_rsgl.sgl.sgl […]
Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public
How to Fix:
- Check if you're running the affected product
- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access
- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)
- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations
Exploit Difficulty Assessment
Vulnerability Timeline
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