# CVE-2023-52615: hwrng: core - Fix page fault dead lock on mmap-ed hwrng

> A local attacker can cause a kernel deadlock and denial of service by reading from the hardware random number generator device into memory mapped from the same device.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 18 Mar 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-52615, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52615, GHSA-3wwr-wv4x-4gxg, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52615

## What is CVE-2023-52615?

CVE-2023-52615 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Mar 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:

hwrng: core - Fix page fault dead lock on mmap-ed hwrng

There is a dead-lock in the hwrng device read path.  This triggers
when the user reads from /dev/hwrng into memory also mmap-ed from
/dev/hwrng.  The resulting page fault triggers a recursive read
which then dead-locks.

Fix this by using a stack buffer when calling copy_to_user.

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52615?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52615?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52615 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52615 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-2023-52615 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52615 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Mar 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-2023-52615 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-2023-52615/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52615/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52615
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52615
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52615

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52615/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.