CVE-2023-5633 - CVE House
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Status published High CVE-2023-5633

Kernel: vmwgfx: reference count issue leads to use-after-free in surface handling

Vulnerability Description

The reference count changes made as part of the CVE-2023-33951 and CVE-2023-33952 fixes exposed a use-after-free flaw in the way memory objects were handled when they were being used to store a surface. When running inside a VMware guest with 3D acceleration enabled, a local, unprivileged user could potentially use this flaw to escalate their privileges.

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 Murray McAllister (NCC Group APAC) for reporting this issue.

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Affected Vendor

Affected Software

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Extended Update Support, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Extended Update Support, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Vulnerable Versions:
0:4.18.0-513.11.1.rt7.313.el8_9, 0:4.18.0-513.11.1.el8_9, 0:4.18.0-477.51.1.el8_8, 0:5.14.0-362.18.1.el9_3, 0:5.14.0-284.75.1.el9_2, 0:5.14.0-284.75.1.rt14.360.el9_2

Timeline

Official Publish: October 23rd, 2023
Last Modified: February 25th, 2026
Added to House: July 22nd, 2026

CVSS Vectors

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

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-911

MITRE ATT&CK TTPs

No associated TTPs found for this vulnerability.