CVE-2023-0045

MEDIUM

Linux Kernel 3.16.68-3.17 - Branch Target Injection via prctl Syscall

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 2 public exploits for CVE-2023-0045. PoCs published by es0j, ASkyeye.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This repository contains a proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2023-0045, demonstrating a bypass of Spectre-BTI user space mitigations on Linux. The exploit leverages a timing window where the kernel fails to issue an IBPB immediately during a syscall, leaving processes vulnerable to branch target injection attacks.

Description

The current implementation of the prctl syscall does not issue an IBPB immediately during the syscall. The ib_prctl_set  function updates the Thread Information Flags (TIFs) for the task and updates the SPEC_CTRL MSR on the function __speculation_ctrl_update, but the IBPB is only issued on the next schedule, when the TIF bits are checked. This leaves the victim vulnerable to values already injected on the BTB, prior to the prctl syscall.  The patch that added the support for the conditional mitigation via prctl (ib_prctl_set) dates back to the kernel 4.9.176. We recommend upgrading past commit a664ec9158eeddd75121d39c9a0758016097fa96

Exploits (2)

nomisec WORKING POC 14 stars
by es0j · poc
https://github.com/es0j/CVE-2023-0045

This repository contains a proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2023-0045, demonstrating a bypass of Spectre-BTI user space mitigations on Linux. The exploit leverages a timing window where the kernel fails to issue an IBPB immediately during a syscall, leaving processes vulnerable to branch target injection attacks.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Info Leak
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux Kernel 5.15
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Intel CPU with IBRS/IBPB support · Linux kernel with Spectre-BTI mitigations enabled
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 3 stars
by ASkyeye · poc
https://github.com/ASkyeye/CVE-2023-0045

This repository contains a proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2023-0045, demonstrating a Spectre-BTI vulnerability in Linux kernel mitigations. The exploit shows that the kernel fails to issue an IBPB immediately during a syscall, leaving a window for attack.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Info Leak
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux kernel 5.15
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to a vulnerable Linux kernel version · Hardware support for Spectre mitigations
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

Scores

CVSS v3 4.7
EPSS 0.0240
EPSS Percentile 81.8%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation poc
Automatable no
Technical Impact partial

Details

CWE
CWE-610
Status published
Products (8)
debian/debian_linux 10.0
linux/linux_kernel 3.16.68 - 3.17
netapp/active_iq_unified_manager
netapp/h300s_firmware
netapp/h410c_firmware
netapp/h410s_firmware
netapp/h500s_firmware
netapp/h700s_firmware
Published Apr 25, 2023
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026