# CVE-2023-52910: iommu/iova: Fix alloc iova overflows issue

> An integer overflow in the Linux kernel IOMMU allocator can cause incorrect memory allocation, potentially leading to system instability or denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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:** 21 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-52910, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52910, GHSA-f5pw-c669-x4x7, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52910

## What is CVE-2023-52910?

CVE-2023-52910 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Aug 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:

iommu/iova: Fix alloc iova overflows issue

In __alloc_and_insert_iova_range, there is an issue that retry_pfn
overflows. The value of iovad->anchor.pfn_hi is ~0UL, then when
iovad->cached_node is iovad->anchor, curr_iova->pfn_hi + 1 will
overflow. As a result, if the retry logic is executed, low_pfn is
updated to 0, and then new_pfn < low_pfn returns false to make the
allocation successful.

This issue occurs in the following two situations:
1. The first iova size exceeds the domain size. When initializing
iova domain, iovad->cached_node is assigned as iovad->anchor. For
example, the iova domain size is 10M, start_pfn is 0x1_F000_0000,
and the iova size allocated for the first time is 11M. The
following is the log information, new->pfn_lo is smaller than
iovad->cached_node.

Example log as follows:
[  223.798112][T1705487] sh: [name:iova&]__alloc_and_insert_iova_range
start_pfn:0x1f0000,retry_pfn:0x0,size:0xb00,limit_pfn:0x1f0a00
[  223.799590][T1705487] sh: [name:iova&]__alloc_and_insert_iova_range
success start_pfn:0x1f0000,new->pfn_lo:0x1efe00,new->pfn_hi:0x1f08ff

2. The node with the largest iova->pfn_lo value in the iova domain
is deleted, iovad->cached_node will be updated to iovad->anchor,
and then the alloc iova size exceeds the maximum iova size that can
be allocated in the domain.

After judging that retry_pfn is less than limit_pfn, call retry_pfn+1
to fix the overflow issue.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52910?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52910?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52910 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52910 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-2023-52910 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52910 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Aug 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-2023-52910 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-2023-52910/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52910/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52910
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52910
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52910

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52910/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.