DaystoPatch

Linux kernelExploited incident

Linux kernel OverlayFS setuid copy-up privilege escalation (CVE-2023-0386)

CVE-2023-0386High, CVSS 7.8In CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog since 17 Jun 2025

  • Exploited after a fix existed
FixedFixed for every supported version on the day it became public.

Response

Silence
not dated
First public report to first vendor statement
Exposure
same day
First public report to first fix
Follow-through
same day
First public report to a fix for every supported version
  • Vendor silent
  • Vendor statement, no fix
  • Fixed for some versions
  • Fixed when disclosed
  • Date only, no time of day

Timeline and evidence

Open a moment to see its source and archived quote.

  1. First public report

    date only

    CVE-2023-0386 record (CNA: redhat)CuratedQuote verified

    "datePublished":"2023-03-22T00:00:00.000Z"

    The record carries a midnight timestamp, i.e. a date only, so day precision.

    Recorded time
    Precision
    Date only (no time of day is shown)
    Origin
    Curated. Found by a researcher, with a verbatim quote and link.
    Quote check
    Found in the archived copy
    Snapshot
    sha256:02596f45448a7118…
    Used in metrics
    Yes
    Dispute this timestamp
    4 more sources for this moment
    CVE.org record CVE-2023-0386ClaimedQuote verified22 Mar 2023, 00:00 UTC

    A flaw was found in the Linux kernel, where unauthorized access to the execution of the setuid file with capabilities was found in the Linux kernel’s OverlayFS subsystem in how a user copies a

    CVE record published.

    Recorded time
    Precision
    To the minute
    Origin
    Claimed. The date the source gives.
    Quote check
    Found in the archived copy
    Snapshot
    sha256:02596f45448a7118…
    Used in metrics
    No, kept for the record
    Dispute this timestamp
    Bluesky postClaimedQuote not checked yet11 May 2023, 12:07 UTC

    Good read from DD - The OverlayFS vulnerability CVE-2023-0386: Overview, detection, and remediation #cloudsecurity #cloudsec #infosec

    Earliest third-party post we hold.

    Source
    Bluesky post social
    Recorded time
    Precision
    To the minute
    Origin
    Claimed. The date the source gives.
    Quote check
    Not checked yet
    Snapshot
    No archived snapshot
    Used in metrics
    No, kept for the record
    Dispute this timestamp
    Mastodon postClaimedQuote not checked yet14 May 2023, 08:30 UTC

    # cve20230386 : https:// nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2 023-0386 Debian: https:// security-tracker.debian.org/tr acker/CVE-2023-0386 Ubuntu: https:// ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-0 386 Redhat: https:// bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.c gi?id=2159505 SuSE: https://www. suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023

    Earliest third-party post we hold.

    Source
    Mastodon post social
    Recorded time
    Precision
    To the minute
    Origin
    Claimed. The date the source gives.
    Quote check
    Not checked yet
    Snapshot
    No archived snapshot
    Used in metrics
    No, kept for the record
    Dispute this timestamp
    CISA KEV (CVE-2023-0386)ClaimedQuote verified17 Jun 2025

    Linux Kernel Improper Ownership Management Vulnerability

    Added to CISA's KEV catalog on 2025-06-17.

    Recorded time
    Precision
    Date only (no time of day is shown)
    Origin
    Claimed. The date the source gives.
    Quote check
    Found in the archived copy
    Snapshot
    sha256:ef8fffede5c47200…
    Used in metrics
    No, kept for the record
    Dispute this timestamp

  2. Vendor statement

    No public statement from the vendor found yet.

  3. First workaround

    No official mitigation found yet.

  4. First fix

    same day

    kernel.org ChangeLog-5.15.91CuratedQuote verified

    Date: Wed Feb 1 08:27:30 2023 +0100

    Top entry of the Linux 5.15.91 ChangeLog is the release commit 'Linux 5.15.91' dated Wed Feb 1 08:27:30 2023 +0100 = 2023-02-01 07:27 UTC (commit author date). 5.15.91 and 6.1.9 were tagged on 2023-02-01 (commit 4f11ada10d0a 'ovl: fail on invalid uid/gid mapping at copy up'); mainline 6.2 followed.

    Source
    kernel.org ChangeLog-5.15.91 vendor github
    Recorded time
    Precision
    To the minute
    Origin
    Curated. Found by a researcher, with a verbatim quote and link.
    Quote check
    Found in the archived copy
    Snapshot
    sha256:f2027bd692f68fa4…
    Used in metrics
    Yes
    Dispute this timestamp

  5. Fixed for all versions

    same day

    kernel.org ChangeLog-6.1.9CuratedQuote verified

    Date: Wed Feb 1 08:38:58 2023 +0100

    Top entry of the Linux 6.1.9 ChangeLog is the release commit 'Linux 6.1.9' dated Wed Feb 1 08:38:58 2023 +0100 = 2023-02-01 07:38 UTC (commit author date). Last of the two affected supported branches (5.15 and 6.1; 6.0 had reached end of life in January 2023).

    Source
    kernel.org ChangeLog-6.1.9 vendor github
    Recorded time
    Precision
    To the minute
    Origin
    Curated. Found by a researcher, with a verbatim quote and link.
    Quote check
    Found in the archived copy
    Snapshot
    sha256:0fdceebd962740db…
    Used in metrics
    Yes
    Dispute this timestamp

Send this to your boss

No brief for this incident yet. We write one for every open incident and every critical bug exploited before a fix.

Affected products

  • Linux kernel 5.11 up to 5.15.90 and 6.1.8 (overlayfs)
How we built this timeline

Coordinated disclosure, exploited later: fixed in stable 1 Feb 2023, CVE published 22 Mar 2023, KEV-listed 17 Jun 2025. No Vendor statement moment is recorded: before the kernel became a CNA (2024) the upstream kernel published no security advisories, and the fixing releases do not describe the bug as a vulnerability.

Fixed-version mapping per branch is from the linuxkernelcves.com dataset (raw.githubusercontent.com/nluedtke/linux_kernel_cves data/stream_fixes.json) and NVD's CPE ranges; release dates are from the kernel.org ChangeLog files (git.kernel.org tag pages were used before the 23 Oct 2026 correction pass; robots.txt blocks them). No report of exploitation before the fix.

CVSS 7.8 is the NVD / CISA-ADP score.

Related

No related incidents.

Linux kernel report card