CVE-2023-53731: 
Linux Kernel vulnerability analysis and mitigation

A potential deadlock vulnerability has been identified in the Linux kernel's netlink subsystem, specifically in the netlinkseterr() function. The vulnerability was discovered by syzbot and has been assigned CVE-2023-53731. The issue affects the Linux kernel's netlink implementation, particularly in the handling of lock ordering between nltablelock and queuestopreason_lock (NVD).

The vulnerability stems from a possible interrupt lock inversion dependency in the netlinkseterr() function. The issue occurs when nltablelock is taken after a SOFTIRQ-safe lock (queuestopreasonlock), potentially creating an inverse lock ordering scenario. This situation can arise when interrupts create an inverse lock ordering between these locks. A similar issue was previously addressed in commit 1d482e666b8e for netlinklocktable(), but netlinkseterr() and _netlinkdiagdump() were not covered by that fix (NVD).

The vulnerability could lead to a system deadlock when specific lock ordering conditions are met in the netlink subsystem. This could potentially affect system stability and availability, particularly in scenarios where netlink communication is actively used (NVD).

The issue has been resolved by adding IRQ safety to netlinkseterr() and _netlinkdiag_dump() functions. The fix ensures proper lock ordering and prevents potential deadlock scenarios. Users should update to the patched version of the Linux kernel that includes these fixes (NVD).