CVE-2023-53642: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-h9cf-c7q8-gcqh
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CVSS 5.5
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-53642 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2023-53642 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-53642
GHSA Identifier GHSA-h9cf-c7q8-gcqh
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.5
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Local (AV:L)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2023-53642

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2023-53642, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under General Security Weakness. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86: fix clear_user_rep_good() exception handling annotation This code no longer exists in mainline, because it was removed in commit d2c95f9d6802 ("x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for user memory clearing") upstream. However, rather than backport the full range of x86 memory clearing and copying cleanups, fix the exception table annotation placement for the final 'rep movsb' in clear_user_rep_good(): rather than pointing at the actual instruction that did the user space access, it pointed to the register move just before it. That made sense from a code flow standpoint, but not from an actual usage standpoint: it means that if user access takes an exception, the exception handler won't actually find the instruction in the exception tables. As a result, rather than fixing it up and returning -EFAULT, it would then turn it into a kernel oops report instead, something like: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 0000000020081000 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page ... RIP: 0010:clear_user_rep_good+0x1c/0x30 arch/x86/lib/clear_page_64.S:147 ... Call Trace: __clear_user arch/x86/include/asm/uaccess_64.h:103 [inline] clear_user arch/x86/include/asm/uaccess_64.h:124 [inline] iov_iter_zero+0x709/0x1290 lib/iov_iter.c:800 iomap_dio_hole_iter fs/iomap/direct-io.c:389 [inline] iomap_dio_iter fs/iomap/direct-io.c:440 [inline] __iomap_dio_rw+0xe3d/0x1cd0 fs/iomap/direct-io.c:601 iomap_dio_rw+0x40/0xa0 fs/iomap/direct-io.c:689 ext4_dio_read_iter fs/ext4/file.c:94 [inline] ext4_file_read_iter+0x4be/0x690 fs/ext4/file.c:145 call_read_iter include/linux/fs.h:2183 [inline] do_iter_readv_writev+0x2e0/0x3b0 fs/read_write.c:733 do_iter_read+0x2f2/0x750 fs/read_write.c:796 vfs_readv+0xe5/0x150 fs/read_write.c:916 do_preadv+0x1b6/0x270 fs/read_write.c:1008 __do_sys_preadv2 fs/read_write.c:1070 [inline] __se_sys_preadv2 fs/read_write.c:1061 [inline] __x64_sys_preadv2+0xef/0x150 fs/read_write.c:1061 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x39/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd which then looks like a filesystem bug rather than the incorrect exception annotation that it is. [ The alternative to this one-liner fix is to take the upstream series that cleans this all up: 68674f94ffc9 ("x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for small memory copies") 20f3337d350c ("x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for small memory clearing") adfcf4231b8c ("x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for user memory copies") * d2c95f9d6802 ("x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for user memory clearing") 3639a535587d ("x86: move stac/clac from user copy routines into callers") 577e6a7fd50d ("x86: inline the 'rep movs' in user copies for the FSRM case") 8c9b6a88b7e2 ("x86: improve on the non-rep 'clear_user' function") 427fda2c8a49 ("x86: improve on the non-rep 'copy_user' function") * e046fe5a36a9 ("x86: set FSRS automatically on AMD CPUs that have FSRM") e1f2750edc4a ("x86: remove 'zerorest' argument from __copy_user_nocache()") 034ff37d3407 ("x86: rewrite '__copy_user_nocache' function") with either the whole series or at a minimum the two marked commits being needed to fix this issue ]

References

NVD — CVE-2023-53642 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53642
git.kernel.org/stable/c/76ce326826... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/76ce32682635fe907e0f8e64e039e773e5c7508f
git.kernel.org/stable/c/90510aed20... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/90510aed20a26e1a4dede4ef6b640e6a4122f38f
git.kernel.org/stable/c/b805d212c3... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b805d212c394f291f116b12c53401e7ba0c4d408
git.kernel.org/stable/c/e046fe5a36... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e046fe5a36a970bc14fbfbcb2074a48776f6b671

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-53642?
CVE-2023-53642 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under General Security Weakness.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2023-53642?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-53642?
CVE-2023-53642 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-53642?
CVE-2023-53642 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2023-53642?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-h9cf-c7q8-gcqh",
  "modified" : "2026-02-04T00:30:27Z",
  "published" : "2025-10-07T18:31:09Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-53642" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nx86: fix clear_user_rep_good() exception handling annotation\n\nThis code no longer exists in mainline, because it was removed in\ncommit d2c95f9d6802 (\"x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for user memory\nclearing\") upstream.\n\nHowever, rather than backport the full range of x86 memory clearing and\ncopying cleanups, fix the exception table annotation placement for the\nfinal 'rep movsb' in clear_user_rep_good(): rather than pointing at the\nactual instruction that did the user space access, it pointed to the\nregister move just before it.\n\nThat made sense from a code flow standpoint, but not from an actual\nusage standpoint: it means that if user access takes an exception, the\nexception handler won't actually find the instruction in the exception\ntables.\n\nAs a result, rather than fixing it up and returning -EFAULT, it would\nthen turn it into a kernel oops report instead, something like:\n\n    BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 0000000020081000\n    #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode\n    #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page\n    ...\n    RIP: 0010:clear_user_rep_good+0x1c/0x30 arch/x86/lib/clear_page_64.S:147\n    ...\n    Call Trace:\n      __clear_user arch/x86/include/asm/uaccess_64.h:103 [inline]\n      clear_user arch/x86/include/asm/uaccess_64.h:124 [inline]\n      iov_iter_zero+0x709/0x1290 lib/iov_iter.c:800\n      iomap_dio_hole_iter fs/iomap/direct-io.c:389 [inline]\n      iomap_dio_iter fs/iomap/direct-io.c:440 [inline]\n      __iomap_dio_rw+0xe3d/0x1cd0 fs/iomap/direct-io.c:601\n      iomap_dio_rw+0x40/0xa0 fs/iomap/direct-io.c:689\n      ext4_dio_read_iter fs/ext4/file.c:94 [inline]\n      ext4_file_read_iter+0x4be/0x690 fs/ext4/file.c:145\n      call_read_iter include/linux/fs.h:2183 [inline]\n      do_iter_readv_writev+0x2e0/0x3b0 fs/read_write.c:733\n      do_iter_read+0x2f2/0x750 fs/read_write.c:796\n      vfs_readv+0xe5/0x150 fs/read_write.c:916\n      do_preadv+0x1b6/0x270 fs/read_write.c:1008\n      __do_sys_preadv2 fs/read_write.c:1070 [inline]\n      __se_sys_preadv2 fs/read_write.c:1061 [inline]\n      __x64_sys_preadv2+0xef/0x150 fs/read_write.c:1061\n      do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]\n      do_syscall_64+0x39/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80\n      entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd\n\nwhich then looks like a filesystem bug rather than the incorrect\nexception annotation that it is.\n\n[ The alternative to this one-liner fix is to take the upstream series\n  that cleans this all up:\n\n    68674f94ffc9 (\"x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for small memory copies\")\n    20f3337d350c (\"x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for small memory clearing\")\n    adfcf4231b8c (\"x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for user memory copies\")\n  * d2c95f9d6802 (\"x86: don't use REP_GOOD or ERMS for user memory clearing\")\n    3639a535587d (\"x86: move stac/clac from user copy routines into callers\")\n    577e6a7fd50d (\"x86: inline the 'rep movs' in user copies for the FSRM case\")\n    8c9b6a88b7e2 (\"x86: improve on the non-rep 'clear_user' function\")\n    427fda2c8a49 (\"x86: improve on the non-rep 'copy_user' function\")\n  * e046fe5a36a9 (\"x86: set FSRS automatically on AMD CPUs that have FSRM\")\n    e1f2750edc4a (\"x86: remove 'zerorest' argument from __copy_user_nocache()\")\n    034ff37d3407 (\"x86: rewrite '__copy_user_nocache' function\")\n\n  with either the whole series or at a minimum the two marked commits\n  being needed to fix this issue ]",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53642"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/76ce32682635fe907e0f8e64e039e773e5c7508f"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/90510aed20a26e1a4dede4ef6b640e6a4122f38f"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b805d212c394f291f116b12c53401e7ba0c4d408"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e046fe5a36a970bc14fbfbcb2074a48776f6b671"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-10-07T16:15:47Z"
  }
}