Vulnerability · Published Oct 7, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2023-53663KVM: nSVM: Check instead of asserting on nested TSC scaling support

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 0.1% (higher than 4% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS NVD)5.5Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.1%top 96.1% 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: KVM: nSVM: Check instead of asserting on nested TSC scaling support Check for nested TSC scaling support on nested SVM VMRUN instead of asserting that TSC scaling is exposed to L1 if L1's MSR_AMD64_TSC_RATIO has diverged from KVM's default. Userspace can trigger the WARN at will by writing the MSR and then updating guest CPUID to hide the feature (modifying guest CPUID is allowed anytime before KVM_RUN). E.g. hacking KVM's state_test selftest to do vcpu_set_msr(vcpu, MSR_AMD64_TSC_RATIO, 0); vcpu_clear_cpuid_feature(vcpu, X86_FEATURE_TSCRATEMSR); after restoring state in a new VM+vCPU yields an endless supply of: ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 164 PID: 62565 at arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c:699 nested_vmcb02_prepare_control+0x3d6/0x3f0 [kvm_amd] Call Trace: <TASK> enter_svm_guest_mode+0x114/0x560 [kvm_amd] nested_svm_vmrun+0x260/0x330 [kvm_amd] vmrun_interception+0x29/0x30 [kvm_amd] svm_invoke_exit_handler+0x35/0x100 [kvm_amd] svm_handle_exit+0xe7/0x180 [kvm_amd] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x1eab/0x2570 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x4c9/0x5b0 [kvm] __se_sys_ioctl+0x7a/0xc0 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x21/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x41/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd RIP: 0033:0x45ca1b Note, the nested #VMEXIT path has the same flaw, but needs a different fix and will be handled separately.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12linux6.1.55-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53663
Debian:13linux6.5.6-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53663
Debian:14linux6.5.6-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-intelno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.8no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53663

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux 5228eb96a4875f8cf5d61d486e3795ac14df8904 – before 6c1ecfea1daf6e75c46e295aad99dfbafd8788975228eb96a4875f8cf5d61d486e3795ac14df8904 – before 02b24270568f65dd607c4a848512dc8055b4491b5228eb96a4875f8cf5d61d486e3795ac14df8904 – before 7cafe9b8e22bb3d77f130c461aedf6868c4aaf58
Linux Linux 5.16

References