#VU120563 Race condition in Linux kernel - CVE-2023-53998
Published: December 26, 2025 / Updated: December 31, 2025
Vulnerability identifier: #VU120563
Vulnerability risk: Low
CVSSv4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear
CVE-ID: CVE-2023-53998
CWE-ID: CWE-362
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Linux kernel
Software vendor:
Linux Foundation
Linux Foundation
Description
The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.
The vulnerability exists due to a race condition within the request_entropy() and virtio_read() functions in drivers/char/hw_random/virtio-rng.c. A local user can escalate privileges on the system.
Remediation
Install update from vendor's repository.
External links
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/22c30022cde6e2c88612b3a499223cfa912f1bc7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/241ef15776a7c8505008db689175b320d345ecd3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2fc91f156b3f3446a1bce80cf4adedcbf41271c2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/318657b4c2077289659f1cd9e2a34f6a3b208e3e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/77471e4912d3960dafe141e268c44be8024fe4dc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a43bcb0b661cbbf3ad797d2aee6b6fd06b8fc69d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac52578d6e8d300dd50f790f29a24169b1edd26c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c76d991b6f01a5d931e7053a73bc9524975a5215
- https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.15.121