CVE-2023-53624 net/sched: sch_fq: fix integer overflow of "credit"

Medium 5.5 Published Updated

An integer overflow in the Linux kernel's FQ scheduler can cause a CPU soft-lockup if the initial quantum is configured excessively high.

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

What is CVE-2023-53624?

CVE-2023-53624 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 7 Oct 2025. 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:

net/sched: sch_fq: fix integer overflow of "credit"

if sch_fq is configured with "initial quantum" having values greater than INT_MAX, the first assignment of "credit" does signed integer overflow to a very negative value. In this situation, the syzkaller script provided by Cristoph triggers the CPU soft-lockup warning even with few sockets. It's not an infinite loop, but "credit" wasn't probably meant to be minus 2Gb for each new flow. Capping "initial quantum" to INT_MAX proved to fix the issue.

v2: validation of "initial quantum" is done in fq_policy, instead of open coding in fq_change() _ suggested by Jakub Kicinski

Weakness: CWE-190

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53624?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2023-53624?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2023-53624 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53624 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53624, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53624, GHSA-xhfr-4q2x-5mx4, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53624.

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