medium CVSS 5.5

CVE-2023-52874·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/tdx: Zero out the missing RSI in TDX_HYPERCALL macro In the TDX_HYPERCALL asm, after the TDCALL instruction returns from the untrusted VMM, the registers that the TDX guest shares to the VMM need to be cleared to avoid speculative execution of VMM-provided values. RSI is specified in the bitmap of those registers, but it is missing when zeroing out those registers in the current TDX_HYPERCALL. It was there when it was originally added in commit 752d13305c78 ("x86/tdx: Expand __tdx_hypercall() to handle more arguments"), but was later removed in commit 1e70c680375a ("x86/tdx: Do not corrupt frame-pointer in __tdx_hypercall()"), which was correct because %rsi is later restored in the "pop %rsi". However a later commit 7a3a401874be ("x86/tdx: Drop flags from __tdx_hypercall()") removed that "pop %rsi" but forgot to add the "xor %rsi, %rsi" back. Fix by adding it back.

Severity
medium
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
6.6.2
Published
2024-05-21

Affected versions

From: 6.6

Until: 6.6.2

Fixed in: 6.6.2

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 6.6.2 or later to address a register-clearing issue in the TDX hypercall interface. This vulnerability affects Intel TDX guest systems running kernels 6.6 to 6.6.1, where the RSI register is not properly zeroed after VMM interactions, potentially exposing it to speculative execution attacks. Patching requires a kernel upgrade and system reboot.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel && sudo reboot

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check installed kernel version: uname -r — verify if version is between 6.6.0 and 6.6.1
  2. Confirm TDX capability: cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -i tdx or dmesg | grep -i tdx — check if system is running as TDX guest
  3. Review kernel dmesg for TDX initialization: dmesg | grep -i 'tdx\|hypercall' — look for TDX feature registration
  4. Verify patch applied: grep -r 'xor.*rsi.*rsi' /boot/config-$(uname -r) or compare kernel version after update with uname -r showing 6.6.2 or higher

FAQ

What is CVE-2023-52874?

This vulnerability is a missing register-clearing operation in the x86 TDX hypercall macro that fails to zero the RSI register after returning from untrusted VMM code, potentially allowing speculative execution of VMM-controlled values on Intel TDX guest systems.

Is CVE-2023-52874 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and no public exploits are currently available.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2023-52874?

Linux kernel versions 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.6.2-rc releases are affected. Kernel 6.6.2 and later contain the fix.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2023-52874?

Run uname -r to check your kernel version — if it shows 6.6.0 or 6.6.1 and your system supports Intel TDX, it is vulnerable. TDX support can be verified with dmesg | grep -i tdx.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2023-52874?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If Linux kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2023-52874 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

CVE-2026-100075CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/srpt: Fix srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() unwind counters When srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() fails partway through a multi-buffer indirect descriptor, the unwind path destroys RDMA contexts but leaves stale n_rw_ctx and n_rdma values (and a dangling rw_ctxs pointer). Later sq_wr_avail accounting in srpt_queue_response() or srpt_write_pending() can then subtract the wrong number of send queue credits. Reset the counters and clear rw_ctxs after freeing the heap allocation before returning an error.
CVE-2026-64035CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: igc: set tx buffer type for SMD frames Sashiko pointed out that igc_fpe_init_smd_frame() initializes igc_tx_buffer fields for an SMD skb, but does not set the buffer type: https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260415025226.114115-1-kohei%40enjuk.jp Since igc_tx_buffer entries are reused, a stale XDP or XSK type can remain and make TX completion use the wrong cleanup path. Set the buffer type to IGC_TX_BUFFER_TYPE_SKB.
CVE-2026-64033CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/rtrs: Fix use-after-free in path file creation cleanup In the error path of rtrs_srv_create_path_files(), the sysfs root folders may already have been created and srv_path->kobj may already have been initialized. If a later step fails, the cleanup currently calls kobject_put(&srv_path->kobj) before rtrs_srv_destroy_once_sysfs_root_folders(srv_path). kobject_put() may drop the last reference to srv_path->kobj and invoke the release callback, rtrs_srv_release(), which frees srv_path. The following call to rtrs_srv_destroy_once_sysfs_root_folders(srv_path) then dereferences srv_path internally to access srv_path->srv, resulting in a use-after-free. This failure path is reached before rtrs_srv_create_path_files() returns success, so the successful-path lifetime handling is not involved. Fix this by destroying the sysfs root folders before calling kobject_put(&srv_path->kobj), so srv_path is still valid while the helper accesses it. This issue was found by a static analysis tool I am developing.
CVE-2026-64037CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: iwlwifi: mld: fix TSO segmentation explosion when AMSDU is disabled When the TLC notification disables AMSDU for a TID, the MLD driver sets max_tid_amsdu_len to the sentinel value 1. The TSO segmentation path in iwl_mld_tx_tso_segment() checks for zero but not for this sentinel, allowing it to reach the num_subframes calculation: num_subframes = (max_tid_amsdu_len + pad) / (subf_len + pad) = (1 + 2) / (1534 + 2) = 0 This zero propagates to iwl_tx_tso_segment() which sets: gso_size = num_subframes * mss = 0 Calling skb_gso_segment() with gso_size=0 creates over 32000 tiny segments from a single GSO skb. This floods the TX ring with ~1024 micro-frames (the rest are purged), creating a massive burst of TX completion events that can lead to memory corruption and a subsequent use-after-free in TCP's retransmit queue (refcount underflow in tcp_shifted_skb, NULL deref in tcp_rack_detect_loss). The MVM driver is immune because it checks mvmsta->amsdu_enabled before reaching the num_subframes calculation. The MLD driver has no equivalent bitmap check and relies solely on max_tid_amsdu_len, which does not catch the sentinel value. Fix this by detecting the sentinel value (max_tid_amsdu_len == 1) at the existing check and falling back to non-AMSDU TSO segmentation. Also add a WARN_ON_ONCE guard after the num_subframes division as defense-in-depth to catch any future code paths that produce zero through a different mechanism.
CVE-2026-64000CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: hsr: fix potential OOB access in supervision frame handling Ensure the entire TLV header is linearized before access by adding sizeof(struct hsr_sup_tlv) to the pskb_may_pull() calls. Without this, a truncated frame could cause an out-of-bounds access.

References

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