# CVE-2023-34324: Possible deadlock in Linux kernel event handling

> A deadlock in the Linux kernel event handling can cause a denial of service in unprivileged Xen guests during specific console operations.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 5 Jan 2024
- **Updated:** 4 Nov 2025
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-34324, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-34324, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-34324

## What is CVE-2023-34324?

CVE-2023-34324 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 5 Jan 2024. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Closing of an event channel in the Linux kernel can result in a deadlock.
This happens when the close is being performed in parallel to an unrelated
Xen console action and the handling of a Xen console interrupt in an
unprivileged guest.

The closing of an event channel is e.g. triggered by removal of a
paravirtual device on the other side. As this action will cause console
messages to be issued on the other side quite often, the chance of
triggering the deadlock is not neglectable.

Note that 32-bit Arm-guests are not affected, as the 32-bit Linux kernel
on Arm doesn't use queued-RW-locks, which are required to trigger the
issue (on Arm32 a waiting writer doesn't block further readers to get
the lock).

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-34324?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Linux kernel, Xen Xen.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-34324?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-34324 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-34324 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-34324 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-34324 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 5 Jan 2024. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-34324 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34324/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34324/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-34324
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-34324
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-34324

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34324/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.