CVE-2023-53638 (GCVE-0-2023-53638)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2025-10-07 15:19 – Updated: 2026-08-05 09:15
VLAI
Title
octeon_ep: cancel queued works in probe error path
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: octeon_ep: cancel queued works in probe error path If it fails to get the devices's MAC address, octep_probe exits while leaving the delayed work intr_poll_task queued. When the work later runs, it's a use after free. Move the cancelation of intr_poll_task from octep_remove into octep_device_cleanup. This does not change anything in the octep_remove flow, but octep_device_cleanup is called also in the octep_probe error path, where the cancelation is needed. Note that the cancelation of ctrl_mbox_task has to follow intr_poll_task's, because the ctrl_mbox_task may be queued by intr_poll_task.
Severity
7 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: 24d4333233b378114106a1327d3d635a004f4387 , < 62312e2f6466b5f0a120542a38b410d88a34ed00 (git)
Affected: 24d4333233b378114106a1327d3d635a004f4387 , < 758c91078165ae641b698750a72eafe7968b3756 (git)
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Linux Linux Affected: 6.4
Unaffected: 0 , < 6.4 (semver)
Unaffected: 6.4.12 , ≤ 6.4.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.5 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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{
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      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_main.c"
          ],
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              "value": "AV:L - The vulnerable code is the PCI probe path of the octeon_ep driver, reached via local device enumeration, hotplug, module load, or sysfs bind/unbind on the host. No remote network protocol handling is involved.\nAC:H - Exploitation requires `octep_probe()` to fail after the poll work is queued \u2014 i.e. the Octeon endpoint firmware must fail to answer the MAC-address mailbox request within the 500 ms timeout (or register_netdev must fail), a device/firmware state an attacker on the host cannot reliably force. Turning the resulting UAF into more than an oops additionally requires reclaiming the freed netdev allocation within the ~50 ms work delay.\nPR:L - The UAF fires from a workqueue with no host credentials needed once probe fails, and the probe can be re-triggered through driver bind/unbind; a low-privileged attacker suffices to be present when the freed object is reclaimed, so PR is not raised to High.\nUI:N - The delayed work fires automatically 50 ms after the probe error path frees the device; no victim action is required beyond the normal device probe that happens at boot or hotplug.\nS:U - Both the vulnerable code and the corrupted memory are in the host kernel, so the impact stays within a single security authority; no VM, IOMMU, or sandbox boundary is crossed.\nC:H - The work handler reads `oct-\u003epoll_non_ioq_intr` and the `hw_ops` function-pointer table out of freed slab memory; controlling the reclaiming allocation gives an attacker a read primitive over kernel heap contents and leaks kernel state.\nI:H - `queue_delayed_work()` and `queue_work()` write into the freed work/timer structures, and `oct-\u003ehw_ops.poll_non_ioq_interrupts(oct)` is an indirect call through a function pointer read from freed memory \u2014 a direct control-flow hijack primitive once the allocation is sprayed.\nA:H - Even unexploited, the work dereferences freed memory and accesses already-iounmap\u0027ed MMIO, reliably producing a kernel oops/panic (this is the crash the fix was written for)."
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    "dateReserved": "2025-10-07T15:16:59.658Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T09:15:16.890Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
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    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "Moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-08-04T19:17:15+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2023-53638",
      "id": "CVE-2023-53638",
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      "product_status:known_affected": "108",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "166",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: octeon_ep: cancel queued works in probe error path",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2023/cve-2023-53638.json",
      "version": "3"
    },
    "suse_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-07-25T02:14:38Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2023-53638",
      "id": "CVE-2023-53638",
      "initial_release_date": "2025-10-07T23:47:16Z",
      "product_status:known_affected": "394",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "271",
      "product_status:recommended": "346",
      "source": "SUSE CSAF VEX",
      "status": "interim",
      "title": "SUSE CVE CVE-2023-53638",
      "url": "https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/csaf-vex/cve-2023-53638.json",
      "version": "38"
    }
  }
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

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Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


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