Vulnerability · Published Sep 18, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2023-53428powercap: arm_scmi: Remove recursion while parsing zones

Medium 5.5

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 5% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)5.5Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 94.6% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powercap: arm_scmi: Remove recursion while parsing zones Powercap zones can be defined as arranged in a hierarchy of trees and when registering a zone with powercap_register_zone(), the kernel powercap subsystem expects this to happen starting from the root zones down to the leaves; on the other side, de-registration by powercap_deregister_zone() must begin from the leaf zones. Available SCMI powercap zones are retrieved dynamically from the platform at probe time and, while any defined hierarchy between the zones is described properly in the zones descriptor, the platform returns the availables zones with no particular well-defined order: as a consequence, the trees possibly composing the hierarchy of zones have to be somehow walked properly to register the retrieved zones from the root. Currently the ARM SCMI Powercap driver walks the zones using a recursive algorithm; this approach, even though correct and tested can lead to kernel stack overflow when processing a returned hierarchy of zones composed by particularly high trees. Avoid possible kernel stack overflow by substituting the recursive approach with an iterative one supported by a dynamically allocated stack-like data structure.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:13linux6.5.3-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53428
Debian:14linux6.5.3-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-intelno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.8no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53428

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux b55eef5226b71edf5422de246bc189da1fdc9000 – before b427c23cebc5c926516f20304bf1acc05a33d147b55eef5226b71edf5422de246bc189da1fdc9000 – before 8022b64fb7daa6135d9f7b0e2f7b5b8e9e5179c9b55eef5226b71edf5422de246bc189da1fdc9000 – before 3e767d6850f867cc33ac16ca097350a1d2417982
Linux Linux 6.2

Weakness: CWE-674 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References