CVE-2023-53051: 
Linux Kernel vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2023-53051 is a vulnerability in the Linux kernel's dm-crypt module that was disclosed on May 2, 2025. The issue involves the dmcrypt_write() function running for an unbounded amount of time without proper CPU scheduling, leading to potential system lockups (NVD CVE).

The vulnerability stems from a missing condresched() call in the dmcryptwrite() function, which can cause CPU soft lockups lasting up to 23 seconds. This manifests as a watchdog warning: 'BUG: soft lockup - CPU#12 stuck for 23s! [dmcrypt_write/2:2897]'. The issue has been assigned a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) indicating moderate severity (Red Hat CVE).

The vulnerability affects system availability by potentially causing CPU cores to become unresponsive for extended periods when processing dm-crypt write operations. This can lead to system performance degradation and temporary unresponsiveness (Red Hat CVE).

The issue has been fixed in various Linux distributions including Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (5.15.0-79.86), Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (5.4.0-156.173), and other supported versions. Red Hat has deferred fixes for RHEL 9. The fix involves adding a condresched() call to the dmcryptwrite() function (Ubuntu Security).