CVE-2023-52868

What it actually does

Potential buffer overflow in thermal core sprintf calls when dev->id from ida_alloc() exceeds INT_MAX range, allowing string writes beyond allocated buffers.

Why it matters to the business

Kernel memory corruption or crashes on systems with high numbers of thermal devices could cause system instability, downtime, or enable further attacks in Linux environments.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker triggers allocation of a high device ID in the thermal subsystem to force sprintf overflow during ID formatting, leading to memory corruption that could be leveraged for privilege escalation in Linux kernel environments.

How to fix it

Update the Linux kernel to the fixed commit b55f0a9f865be75ca1019aad331f3225f7b50ce8 in the stable tree.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify kernel source contains the fix commit b55f0a9f865be75ca1019aad331f3225f7b50ce8 or confirm device ID formatting uses safe string functions like snprintf.

Typical attack path

1. Enumerate thermal devices to force high IDA allocation
2. Trigger sprintf formatting of oversized device ID
3. Exploit resulting buffer overflow for memory corruption or crash

How to detect it

Search kernel logs and crash dumps for thermal core sprintf-related panics or device ID formatting errors; monitor for unexpected high device allocations in thermal subsystems.

What your security team should do

• Apply the kernel fix commit immediately on all affected systems
• Prioritize updates for production Linux hosts given ongoing kernel privilege escalation activity
• Review thermal subsystem device counts and logging for anomalies