Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-52438

#%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80900
##
# (C) Tenable, Inc.
##

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  script_version("1.10");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2026/05/21");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2023-52438");

  script_name(english:"Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-52438");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value:
"The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be
patched.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value:
"The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied
patch available.

  - In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: binder: fix use-after-free in
    shinker's callback The mmap read lock is used during the shrinker's callback, which means that using
    alloc->vma pointer isn't safe as it can race with munmap(). As of commit dd2283f2605e (mm: mmap: zap
    pages with read mmap_sem in munmap) the mmap lock is downgraded after the vma has been isolated. I was
    able to reproduce this issue by manually adding some delays and triggering page reclaiming through the
    shrinker's debug sysfs. The following KASAN report confirms the UAF:
    ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in
    zap_page_range_single+0x470/0x4b8 Read of size 8 at addr ffff356ed50e50f0 by task bash/478 CPU: 1 PID: 478
    Comm: bash Not tainted 6.6.0-rc5-00055-g1c8b86a3799f-dirty #70 Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) Call
    trace: zap_page_range_single+0x470/0x4b8 binder_alloc_free_page+0x608/0xadc
    __list_lru_walk_one+0x130/0x3b0 list_lru_walk_node+0xc4/0x22c binder_shrink_scan+0x108/0x1dc
    shrinker_debugfs_scan_write+0x2b4/0x500 full_proxy_write+0xd4/0x140 vfs_write+0x1ac/0x758
    ksys_write+0xf0/0x1dc __arm64_sys_write+0x6c/0x9c Allocated by task 492: kmem_cache_alloc+0x130/0x368
    vm_area_alloc+0x2c/0x190 mmap_region+0x258/0x18bc do_mmap+0x694/0xa60 vm_mmap_pgoff+0x170/0x29c
    ksys_mmap_pgoff+0x290/0x3a0 __arm64_sys_mmap+0xcc/0x144 Freed by task 491: kmem_cache_free+0x17c/0x3c8
    vm_area_free_rcu_cb+0x74/0x98 rcu_core+0xa38/0x26d4 rcu_core_si+0x10/0x1c __do_softirq+0x2fc/0xd24 Last
    potentially related work creation: __call_rcu_common.constprop.0+0x6c/0xba0 call_rcu+0x10/0x1c
    vm_area_free+0x18/0x24 remove_vma+0xe4/0x118 do_vmi_align_munmap.isra.0+0x718/0xb5c
    do_vmi_munmap+0xdc/0x1fc __vm_munmap+0x10c/0x278 __arm64_sys_munmap+0x58/0x7c Fix this issue by performing
    instead a vma_lookup() which will fail to find the vma that was isolated before the mmap lock downgrade.
    Note that this option has better performance than upgrading to a mmap write lock which would increase
    contention. Plus, mmap_write_trylock() has been recently removed anyway. (CVE-2023-52438)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-52438");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:
"There is no known solution at this time.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"agent", value:"unix");
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:C");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:U/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:U/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2023-52438");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"false");
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  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2024/02/06");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2025/08/08");

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  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_family(english:"Misc.");

  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2025-2026 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info2.nasl", "set_linux_os_id.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/cpu", "Host/local_checks_enabled", "global_settings/vendor_unpatched", "Host/OS/identifier");
  script_require_ports("Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-16.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-18.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-20.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-22.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-24.04");

  exit(0);
}

if (!get_kb_item("global_settings/vendor_unpatched")) exit(0, "Unpatched Vulnerabilities Detection not active.");
if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
if (empty_or_null(get_one_kb_item("Host/Debian/dpkg-l"))) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);

include('linux_unpatched.inc');

var distro_constraints_array = {
  "Ubuntu Linux-16.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "16.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "linux-hwe-edge"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-18.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "18.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "linux-aws-5.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-aws-5.3"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-5.3"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-cloud-tools-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-edge"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-headers-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-tools-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-cloud-tools-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-gcp-5.3"},
          {"reference": "linux-gcp-headers-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-gcp-tools-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-gke-4.15"},
          {"reference": "linux-gke-5.4"},
          {"reference": "linux-gkeop-5.4"},
          {"reference": "linux-headers-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-hwe"},
          {"reference": "linux-hwe-edge"},
          {"reference": "linux-image-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-image-unsigned-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-modules-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-modules-extra-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-headers-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-tools-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-oracle-5.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-oracle-5.3"},
          {"reference": "linux-tools-4.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-udebs-azure"},
          {"reference": "linux-udebs-oem"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-20.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "20.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "linux-aws-5.11"},
          {"reference": "linux-aws-5.13"},
          {"reference": "linux-aws-5.8"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-5.11"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-5.13"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-5.8"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-fde"},
          {"reference": "linux-buildinfo-5.4.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-buildinfo-5.6.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-cloud-tools-5.4.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-cloud-tools-5.6.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-gcp-5.11"},
          {"reference": "linux-gcp-5.13"},
          {"reference": "linux-gcp-5.8"},
          {"reference": "linux-gke"},
          {"reference": "linux-gke-5.15"},
          {"reference": "linux-headers-5.4.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-headers-5.6.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-hwe-5.11"},
          {"reference": "linux-hwe-5.13"},
          {"reference": "linux-hwe-5.8"},
          {"reference": "linux-image-5.4.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-image-unsigned-5.6.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-intel-5.13"},
          {"reference": "linux-libc-dev"},
          {"reference": "linux-modules-5.4.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-modules-5.6.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-modules-extra-5.4.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-modules-extra-5.6.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-5.10"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-5.13"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-5.14"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-5.6-headers-5.6.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-5.6-tools-5.6.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-5.6-tools-common"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-5.6-tools-host"},
          {"reference": "linux-oracle-5.11"},
          {"reference": "linux-oracle-5.13"},
          {"reference": "linux-oracle-5.8"},
          {"reference": "linux-raspi2"},
          {"reference": "linux-riscv-5.11"},
          {"reference": "linux-riscv-5.8"},
          {"reference": "linux-riscv-headers-5.4.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-riscv-tools-5.4.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-tools-5.4.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-tools-5.6.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-udebs-generic"},
          {"reference": "linux-udebs-oem"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-22.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "22.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "linux-allwinner-5.19"},
          {"reference": "linux-aws-5.19"},
          {"reference": "linux-aws-6.2"},
          {"reference": "linux-aws-6.5"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-5.19"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-6.2"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-6.5"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-fde-5.19"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-fde-6.2"},
          {"reference": "linux-azure-fde-6.8"},
          {"reference": "linux-buildinfo-5.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-buildinfo-5.17.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-cloud-tools-5.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-cloud-tools-5.17.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-gcp-5.19"},
          {"reference": "linux-gcp-6.2"},
          {"reference": "linux-gcp-6.5"},
          {"reference": "linux-headers-5.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-headers-5.17.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-hwe-5.19"},
          {"reference": "linux-hwe-6.2"},
          {"reference": "linux-hwe-6.5"},
          {"reference": "linux-image-5.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-image-unsigned-5.17.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19"},
          {"reference": "linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2"},
          {"reference": "linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5"},
          {"reference": "linux-modules-5.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-modules-5.17.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-modules-extra-5.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-modules-extra-5.17.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-nvidia-6.2"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-5.17-headers-5.17.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-5.17-tools-5.17.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-5.17-tools-host"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-6.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-oem-6.5"},
          {"reference": "linux-oracle-6.5"},
          {"reference": "linux-realtime"},
          {"reference": "linux-riscv-5.19"},
          {"reference": "linux-riscv-6.5"},
          {"reference": "linux-riscv-headers-5.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-riscv-tools-5.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-starfive-5.19"},
          {"reference": "linux-starfive-6.2"},
          {"reference": "linux-starfive-6.5"},
          {"reference": "linux-tools-5.15.0"},
          {"reference": "linux-tools-5.17.0"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-24.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "24.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "linux-azure-fde"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
};

var distro_constraints_values = linux_unpatched::get_distro_constraints(distro_constraints_arr:distro_constraints_array);
if (empty_or_null(distro_constraints_values)) audit(AUDIT_HOST_NOT, 'affected');
var report = linux_unpatched::check_unpatched_constraints(distro_constraints_values:distro_constraints_values);

if (!empty_or_null(report))
{
  security_report_v4(
      port       : 0,
      severity   : SECURITY_WARNING,
      extra      : report
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  audit(AUDIT_HOST_NOT, 'affected');
}