Integer overflow in Linux

CVE-2023-53624

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

Vulnerability class: Integer Overflow

EPSS: 0.002 (9.2th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53624?
CVE-2023-53624 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Integer Overflow or Wraparound. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-10-07.
How severe is CVE-2023-53624?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.