Vulnerability-Lookup

CVE-2023-53665 (GCVE-0-2023-53665)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2025-10-07 15:21 – Updated: 2026-05-11 19:49

Title

md: don't dereference mddev after export_rdev()

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: md: don't dereference mddev after export_rdev() Except for initial reference, mddev->kobject is referenced by rdev->kobject, and if the last rdev is freed, there is no guarantee that mddev is still valid. Hence mddev should not be used anymore after export_rdev(). This problem can be triggered by following test for mdadm at very low rate: New file: mdadm/tests/23rdev-lifetime devname=${dev0##*/} devt=`cat /sys/block/$devname/dev` pid="" runtime=2 clean_up_test() { pill -9 $pid echo clear > /sys/block/md0/md/array_state } trap 'clean_up_test' EXIT add_by_sysfs() { while true; do echo $devt > /sys/block/md0/md/new_dev done } remove_by_sysfs(){ while true; do echo remove > /sys/block/md0/md/dev-${devname}/state done } echo md0 > /sys/module/md_mod/parameters/new_array || die "create md0 failed" add_by_sysfs & pid="$pid $!" remove_by_sysfs & pid="$pid $!" sleep $runtime exit 0 Test cmd: ./test --save-logs --logdir=/tmp/ --keep-going --dev=loop --tests=23rdev-lifetime Test result: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0x6b6b6b6b6b6b6bcb: 0000 [#4] PREEMPT SMP CPU: 0 PID: 1292 Comm: test Tainted: G D W 6.5.0-rc2-00121-g01e55c376936 #562 RIP: 0010:md_wakeup_thread+0x9e/0x320 [md_mod] Call Trace: <TASK> mddev_unlock+0x1b6/0x310 [md_mod] rdev_attr_store+0xec/0x190 [md_mod] sysfs_kf_write+0x52/0x70 kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x19a/0x2a0 vfs_write+0x3b5/0x770 ksys_write+0x74/0x150 __x64_sys_write+0x22/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x40/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd Fix this problem by don't dereference mddev after export_rdev().

Severity

5.5 (Medium)


                        
                          CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Assigner

Linux mitre root

References

2 references

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad430ad0669d27573…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7deac114be5fb25a4…

Impacted products

2 products

Vendor	Product	Version	CPE status
Linux	Linux	Affected: 3ce94ce5d05ae89190a23f6187f64d8f4b2d3782 , < ad430ad0669d2757377373390d68e1454fc7a344 (git) Affected: 3ce94ce5d05ae89190a23f6187f64d8f4b2d3782 , < 7deac114be5fb25a4e865212ed0feaf5f85f2a28 (git)	guessed
Linux	Linux	Affected: 6.5 Unaffected: 0 , < 6.5 (semver) Unaffected: 6.5.5 , ≤ 6.5.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.6 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)	guessed

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{
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      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/md/md.c"
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          "vendor": "Linux",
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              "status": "affected",
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              "versionType": "git"
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          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmd: don\u0027t dereference mddev after export_rdev()\n\nExcept for initial reference, mddev-\u003ekobject is referenced by\nrdev-\u003ekobject, and if the last rdev is freed, there is no guarantee that\nmddev is still valid. Hence mddev should not be used anymore after\nexport_rdev().\n\nThis problem can be triggered by following test for mdadm at very\nlow rate:\n\nNew file: mdadm/tests/23rdev-lifetime\n\ndevname=${dev0##*/}\ndevt=`cat /sys/block/$devname/dev`\npid=\"\"\nruntime=2\n\nclean_up_test() {\n        pill -9 $pid\n        echo clear \u003e /sys/block/md0/md/array_state\n}\n\ntrap \u0027clean_up_test\u0027 EXIT\n\nadd_by_sysfs() {\n        while true; do\n                echo $devt \u003e /sys/block/md0/md/new_dev\n        done\n}\n\nremove_by_sysfs(){\n        while true; do\n                echo remove \u003e /sys/block/md0/md/dev-${devname}/state\n        done\n}\n\necho md0 \u003e /sys/module/md_mod/parameters/new_array || die \"create md0 failed\"\n\nadd_by_sysfs \u0026\npid=\"$pid $!\"\n\nremove_by_sysfs \u0026\npid=\"$pid $!\"\n\nsleep $runtime\nexit 0\n\nTest cmd:\n\n./test --save-logs --logdir=/tmp/ --keep-going --dev=loop --tests=23rdev-lifetime\n\nTest result:\n\ngeneral protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0x6b6b6b6b6b6b6bcb: 0000 [#4] PREEMPT SMP\nCPU: 0 PID: 1292 Comm: test Tainted: G      D W          6.5.0-rc2-00121-g01e55c376936 #562\nRIP: 0010:md_wakeup_thread+0x9e/0x320 [md_mod]\nCall Trace:\n \u003cTASK\u003e\n mddev_unlock+0x1b6/0x310 [md_mod]\n rdev_attr_store+0xec/0x190 [md_mod]\n sysfs_kf_write+0x52/0x70\n kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x19a/0x2a0\n vfs_write+0x3b5/0x770\n ksys_write+0x74/0x150\n __x64_sys_write+0x22/0x30\n do_syscall_64+0x40/0x90\n entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd\n\nFix this problem by don\u0027t dereference mddev after export_rdev()."
        }
      ],
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        "dateUpdated": "2026-05-11T19:49:33.012Z",
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        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad430ad0669d2757377373390d68e1454fc7a344"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7deac114be5fb25a4e865212ed0feaf5f85f2a28"
        }
      ],
      "title": "md: don\u0027t dereference mddev after export_rdev()",
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    "cveId": "CVE-2023-53665",
    "datePublished": "2025-10-07T15:21:23.808Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-10-07T15:16:59.662Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-05-11T19:49:33.012Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
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      "cve": "CVE-2023-53665",
      "date": "2026-09-14",
      "epss": "0.00127",
      "percentile": "0.02729"
    },
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    "redhat_vex": {
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      "cve": "CVE-2023-53665",
      "id": "CVE-2023-53665",
      "initial_release_date": "2023-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:fixed": "279",
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      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: md: don\u0027t dereference mddev after export_rdev()",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2023/cve-2023-53665.json",
      "version": "3"
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    "suse_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-09-06T17:04:42Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2023-53665",
      "id": "CVE-2023-53665",
      "initial_release_date": "2025-10-07T23:47:04Z",
      "product_status:known_affected": "394",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "405",
      "product_status:recommended": "339",
      "source": "SUSE CSAF VEX",
      "status": "interim",
      "title": "SUSE CVE CVE-2023-53665",
      "url": "https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/csaf-vex/cve-2023-53665.json",
      "version": "44"
    }
  }
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

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.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.

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CVE-2023-53665 (GCVE-0-2023-53665)

Tags

Sightings

Nomenclature