CVE-2023-3640 - CVE House
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Status published High CVE-2023-3640

Kernel: x86/mm: a per-cpu entry area leak was identified through the init_cea_offsets function when prefetchnta and prefetcht2 instructions being used for the per-cpu entry area mapping to the user space

Vulnerability Description

A possible unauthorized memory access flaw was found in the Linux kernel's cpu_entry_area mapping of X86 CPU data to memory, where a user may guess the location of exception stacks or other important data. Based on the previous CVE-2023-0597, the 'Randomize per-cpu entry area' feature was implemented in /arch/x86/mm/cpu_entry_area.c, which works through the init_cea_offsets() function when KASLR is enabled. However, despite this feature, there is still a risk of per-cpu entry area leaks. This issue could allow a local user to gain access to some important data with memory in an expected location and potentially escalate their privileges on the system.

Impact Analysis

Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.

Remediation

Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.

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Credits & Attribution

The following person or organization is credited with identifying this vulnerability, as recorded in the NVD database:

  • Red Hat would like to thank 77pray (Syclover Security Team) for reporting this issue.

References

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Affected Vendor

Affected Software

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Vulnerable Versions:
0:5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3

Timeline

Official Publish: July 24th, 2023
Last Modified: June 26th, 2026
Added to House: July 22nd, 2026

CVSS Vectors

V3: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-385

MITRE ATT&CK TTPs

No associated TTPs found for this vulnerability.