CVE-2023-54081 (GCVE-0-2023-54081)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2025-12-24 13:06
Modified
2026-01-05 10:33
Severity ?
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xen: speed up grant-table reclaim When a grant entry is still in use by the remote domain, Linux must put it on a deferred list. Normally, this list is very short, because the PV network and block protocols expect the backend to unmap the grant first. However, Qubes OS's GUI protocol is subject to the constraints of the X Window System, and as such winds up with the frontend unmapping the window first. As a result, the list can grow very large, resulting in a massive memory leak and eventual VM freeze. To partially solve this problem, make the number of entries that the VM will attempt to free at each iteration tunable. The default is still 10, but it can be overridden via a module parameter. This is Cc: stable because (when combined with appropriate userspace changes) it fixes a severe performance and stability problem for Qubes OS users.
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: 569ca5b3f94cd0b3295ec5943aa457cf4a4f6a3a
Version: 569ca5b3f94cd0b3295ec5943aa457cf4a4f6a3a
Version: 569ca5b3f94cd0b3295ec5943aa457cf4a4f6a3a
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-module",
            "drivers/xen/grant-table.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "cd1a8952ff529adc210e62306849fd6f256608c0",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "569ca5b3f94cd0b3295ec5943aa457cf4a4f6a3a",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
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              "versionType": "git"
            },
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              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-module",
            "drivers/xen/grant-table.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "3.5"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "3.5",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.1.43",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.4.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.4.8",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.5",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.1.43",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "3.5",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.4.8",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "3.5",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
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                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.5",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "3.5",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nxen: speed up grant-table reclaim\n\nWhen a grant entry is still in use by the remote domain, Linux must put\nit on a deferred list.  Normally, this list is very short, because\nthe PV network and block protocols expect the backend to unmap the grant\nfirst.  However, Qubes OS\u0027s GUI protocol is subject to the constraints\nof the X Window System, and as such winds up with the frontend unmapping\nthe window first.  As a result, the list can grow very large, resulting\nin a massive memory leak and eventual VM freeze.\n\nTo partially solve this problem, make the number of entries that the VM\nwill attempt to free at each iteration tunable.  The default is still\n10, but it can be overridden via a module parameter.\n\nThis is Cc: stable because (when combined with appropriate userspace\nchanges) it fixes a severe performance and stability problem for Qubes\nOS users."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-01-05T10:33:40.979Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cd1a8952ff529adc210e62306849fd6f256608c0"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c76d96c555895ac602c1587b001e5cf656abc371"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c04e9894846c663f3278a414f34416e6e45bbe68"
        }
      ],
      "title": "xen: speed up grant-table reclaim",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2023-54081",
    "datePublished": "2025-12-24T13:06:13.316Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-12-24T13:02:52.515Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-01-05T10:33:40.979Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}


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