Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

powerpc/rtas_flash: allow user copy to flash block cache objects

With hardened usercopy enabled (CONFIG_HARDENED_USERCOPY=y), using the
/proc/powerpc/rtas/firmware_update interface to prepare a system
firmware update yields a BUG():

kernel BUG at mm/usercopy.c:102!
Oops: Exception in kernel mode, sig: 5 [#1]
LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA pSeries
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0 PID: 2232 Comm: dd Not tainted 6.5.0-rc3+ #2
Hardware name: IBM,8408-E8E POWER8E (raw) 0x4b0201 0xf000004 of:IBM,FW860.50 (SV860_146) hv:phyp pSeries
NIP: c0000000005991d0 LR: c0000000005991cc CTR: 0000000000000000
REGS: c0000000148c76a0 TRAP: 0700 Not tainted (6.5.0-rc3+)
MSR: 8000000000029033 <SF,EE,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 24002242 XER: 0000000c
CFAR: c0000000001fbd34 IRQMASK: 0
[ ... GPRs omitted ... ]
NIP usercopy_abort+0xa0/0xb0
LR usercopy_abort+0x9c/0xb0
Call Trace:
usercopy_abort+0x9c/0xb0 (unreliable)
__check_heap_object+0x1b4/0x1d0
__check_object_size+0x2d0/0x380
rtas_flash_write+0xe4/0x250
proc_reg_write+0xfc/0x160
vfs_write+0xfc/0x4e0
ksys_write+0x90/0x160
system_call_exception+0x178/0x320
system_call_common+0x160/0x2c4

The blocks of the firmware image are copied directly from user memory
to objects allocated from flash_block_cache, so flash_block_cache must
be created using kmem_cache_create_usercopy() to mark it safe for user
access.

[mpe: Trim and indent oops]
Published: 2025-10-01
Score: 7.8 High
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
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Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

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History

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 16:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses NVD-CWE-noinfo
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

 cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

 cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/rtas_flash: allow user copy to flash block cache objects With hardened usercopy enabled (CONFIG_HARDENED_USERCOPY=y), using the /proc/powerpc/rtas/firmware_update interface to prepare a system firmware update yields a BUG(): kernel BUG at mm/usercopy.c:102! Oops: Exception in kernel mode, sig: 5 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA pSeries Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 2232 Comm: dd Not tainted 6.5.0-rc3+ #2 Hardware name: IBM,8408-E8E POWER8E (raw) 0x4b0201 0xf000004 of:IBM,FW860.50 (SV860_146) hv:phyp pSeries NIP: c0000000005991d0 LR: c0000000005991cc CTR: 0000000000000000 REGS: c0000000148c76a0 TRAP: 0700 Not tainted (6.5.0-rc3+) MSR: 8000000000029033 <SF,EE,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 24002242 XER: 0000000c CFAR: c0000000001fbd34 IRQMASK: 0 [ ... GPRs omitted ... ] NIP usercopy_abort+0xa0/0xb0 LR usercopy_abort+0x9c/0xb0 Call Trace: usercopy_abort+0x9c/0xb0 (unreliable) __check_heap_object+0x1b4/0x1d0 __check_object_size+0x2d0/0x380 rtas_flash_write+0xe4/0x250 proc_reg_write+0xfc/0x160 vfs_write+0xfc/0x4e0 ksys_write+0x90/0x160 system_call_exception+0x178/0x320 system_call_common+0x160/0x2c4 The blocks of the firmware image are copied directly from user memory to objects allocated from flash_block_cache, so flash_block_cache must be created using kmem_cache_create_usercopy() to mark it safe for user access. [mpe: Trim and indent oops]
Title powerpc/rtas_flash: allow user copy to flash block cache objects
References

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-11T19:45:56.368Z

Reserved: 2025-10-01T11:39:39.402Z

Link: CVE-2023-53487

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2025-10-01T12:15:51.637

Modified: 2026-01-20T16:34:44.870

Link: CVE-2023-53487

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2025-10-01T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2023-53487 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2025-10-02T08:39:37Z

Weaknesses