CVE-2023-52942 [Medium] | Security Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cgroup/cpuset: Fix wrong check in update_parent_subparts_cpumask() It was found that the check to see if a partition could use up all the cpus from the parent cpuset in update_parent_subparts_cpumask() was incorrect. As a result, it is possible to leave parent with no effective cpu left even if there are tasks in the parent cpuset. This can lead to system panic as reported in [1]. Fix this probem by updating the check to fail the enabling the partition if parent's effective_cpus is a subset of the child's cpus_allowed. Also record the error code when an error happens in update_prstate() and add a test case where parent partition and child have the same cpu list and parent has task. Enabling partition in the child will fail in this case. [1] https://www.spinics.net/lists/cgroups/msg36254.html

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-05-05	0.02%	0.10%	+0.09%
2	2025-03-28	—	0.02%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-05-05

0.02%

0.10%

+0.09%

2025-03-28

—

0.02%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
5.5	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	3.6	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

5.5

3.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

3.6

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-52942

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	unimportant	CVE-2023-52942 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-52942
`redhat`	low	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-52942
`suse`	medium	CVE-2023-52942 severity moderate: SUSE including 26 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 239 product×package rows across 44 product lines (SLES-LTSS-TERADATA 15 SP2, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS, … (44 product lines)): Known Not Affected 239.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-52942/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2023-52942 medium priority: Ubuntu including 130 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1040 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 713, ignored 146, not-affected 117, released 64.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-52942

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-52942

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.1, < 6.1.11	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	6.2	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc1::::::
linux	linux_kernel	6.2	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc2::::::
linux	linux_kernel	6.2	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc3::::::
linux	linux_kernel	6.2	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc4::::::
linux	linux_kernel	6.2	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc5::::::
linux	linux_kernel	6.2	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc6::::::

References for CVE-2023-52942

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2ab7f2cf5ef8f0c6212a246e681d1fe358cec1f	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e5ae8803847b80fe9d744a3174abe2b7bfed222a	Patch

URL

CVE-2023-52942 | cgroup/cpuset: Fix wrong check in update_parent_subparts_cpumask()

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-52942

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-52942

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-52942

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-52942

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-52942

References for CVE-2023-52942