# CVE-2023-52464: EDAC/thunderx: Fix possible out-of-bounds string access

> A buffer overflow in the Linux kernel ThunderX EDAC driver allows attackers to cause memory corruption, potentially leading to code execution or system crashes.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Feb 2024
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-52464, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52464, GHSA-qjx2-j5wq-qc39, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52464

## What is CVE-2023-52464?

CVE-2023-52464 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 23 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

EDAC/thunderx: Fix possible out-of-bounds string access

Enabling -Wstringop-overflow globally exposes a warning for a common bug
in the usage of strncat():

  drivers/edac/thunderx_edac.c: In function 'thunderx_ocx_com_threaded_isr':
  drivers/edac/thunderx_edac.c:1136:17: error: 'strncat' specified bound 1024 equals destination size [-Werror=stringop-overflow=]
   1136 |                 strncat(msg, other, OCX_MESSAGE_SIZE);
        |                 ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   ...
   1145 |                                 strncat(msg, other, OCX_MESSAGE_SIZE);
   ...
   1150 |                                 strncat(msg, other, OCX_MESSAGE_SIZE);

   ...

Apparently the author of this driver expected strncat() to behave the
way that strlcat() does, which uses the size of the destination buffer
as its third argument rather than the length of the source buffer. The
result is that there is no check on the size of the allocated buffer.

Change it to strlcat().

  [ bp: Trim compiler output, fixup commit message. ]

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52464?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52464?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52464 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52464 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-2023-52464 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52464 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 23 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52464 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-2023-52464/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52464/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52464
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52464
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52464

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52464/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.