CVE-2023-53531

MEDIUM

Linux kernel - NULL Pointer Dereference

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: null_blk: fix poll request timeout handling When doing io_uring benchmark on /dev/nullb0, it's easy to crash the kernel if poll requests timeout triggered, as reported by David. [1] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008 Workqueue: kblockd blk_mq_timeout_work RIP: 0010:null_timeout_rq+0x4e/0x91 Call Trace: ? null_timeout_rq+0x4e/0x91 blk_mq_handle_expired+0x31/0x4b bt_iter+0x68/0x84 ? bt_tags_iter+0x81/0x81 __sbitmap_for_each_set.constprop.0+0xb0/0xf2 ? __blk_mq_complete_request_remote+0xf/0xf bt_for_each+0x46/0x64 ? __blk_mq_complete_request_remote+0xf/0xf ? percpu_ref_get_many+0xc/0x2a blk_mq_queue_tag_busy_iter+0x14d/0x18e blk_mq_timeout_work+0x95/0x127 process_one_work+0x185/0x263 worker_thread+0x1b5/0x227 This is indeed a race problem between null_timeout_rq() and null_poll(). null_poll() null_timeout_rq() spin_lock(&nq->poll_lock) list_splice_init(&nq->poll_list, &list) spin_unlock(&nq->poll_lock) while (!list_empty(&list)) req = list_first_entry() list_del_init() ... blk_mq_add_to_batch() // req->rq_next = NULL spin_lock(&nq->poll_lock) // rq->queuelist->next == NULL list_del_init(&rq->queuelist) spin_unlock(&nq->poll_lock) Fix these problems by setting requests state to MQ_RQ_COMPLETE under nq->poll_lock protection, in which null_timeout_rq() can safely detect this race and early return. Note this patch just fix the kernel panic when request timeout happen. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/

Scores

CVSS v3 5.5
EPSS 0.0013
EPSS Percentile 3.0%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-476
Status published
Products (9)
Linux/Linux < 5.16
Linux/Linux 0a593fbbc245a85940ed34caa3aa1e4cb060c54b - 5a26e45edb4690d58406178b5a9ea4c6dcf2c105
Linux/Linux 0a593fbbc245a85940ed34caa3aa1e4cb060c54b - a0b4a0666beacfe8add9c71d8922475541dbae73
Linux/Linux 0a593fbbc245a85940ed34caa3aa1e4cb060c54b - a7cb2e709f2927cc3c76781df3e45de2381b3b9d
Linux/Linux 5.16
Linux/Linux 6.1.54 - 6.1.*
Linux/Linux 6.5.4 - 6.5.*
Linux/Linux 6.6
linux/linux_kernel 5.16 - 6.1.54
Published Oct 01, 2025
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026