// For flags

CVE-2023-53176

serial: 8250: Reinit port->pm on port specific driver unbind

Severity Score

8.4
*CVSS v3

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

0
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

-
*SSVC
Descriptions

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: serial: 8250: Reinit port->pm on port specific driver unbind When we unbind a serial port hardware specific 8250 driver, the generic
serial8250 driver takes over the port. After that we see an oops about 10
seconds later. This can produce the following at least on some TI SoCs: Unhandled fault: imprecise external abort (0x1406)
Internal error: : 1406 [#1] SMP ARM Turns out that we may still have the serial port hardware specific driver
port->pm in use, and serial8250_pm() tries to call it after the port
specific driver is gone: serial8250_pm [8250_base] from uart_change_pm+0x54/0x8c [serial_base]
uart_change_pm [serial_base] from uart_hangup+0x154/0x198 [serial_base]
uart_hangup [serial_base] from __tty_hangup.part.0+0x328/0x37c
__tty_hangup.part.0 from disassociate_ctty+0x154/0x20c
disassociate_ctty from do_exit+0x744/0xaac
do_exit from do_group_exit+0x40/0x8c
do_group_exit from __wake_up_parent+0x0/0x1c Let's fix the issue by calling serial8250_set_defaults() in
serial8250_unregister_port(). This will set the port back to using
the serial8250 default functions, and sets the port->pm to point to
serial8250_pm.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: serial: 8250: Reinit port->pm on port specific driver unbind When we unbind a serial port hardware specific 8250 driver, the generic serial8250 driver takes over the port. After that we see an oops about 10 seconds later. This can produce the following at least on some TI SoCs: Unhandled fault: imprecise external abort (0x1406) Internal error: : 1406 [#1] SMP ARM Turns out that we may still have the serial port hardware specific driver port->pm in use, and serial8250_pm() tries to call it after the port specific driver is gone: serial8250_pm [8250_base] from uart_change_pm+0x54/0x8c [serial_base] uart_change_pm [serial_base] from uart_hangup+0x154/0x198 [serial_base] uart_hangup [serial_base] from __tty_hangup.part.0+0x328/0x37c __tty_hangup.part.0 from disassociate_ctty+0x154/0x20c disassociate_ctty from do_exit+0x744/0xaac do_exit from do_group_exit+0x40/0x8c do_group_exit from __wake_up_parent+0x0/0x1c Let's fix the issue by calling serial8250_set_defaults() in serial8250_unregister_port(). This will set the port back to using the serial8250 default functions, and sets the port->pm to point to serial8250_pm.

This update provides the initial livepatch for this kernel update. This update does not contain any fixes and will be updated with livepatches later.

*Credits: N/A
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:-
Exploitation
-
Automatable
-
Tech. Impact
-
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2025-09-15 CVE Reserved
  • 2025-09-15 CVE Published
  • 2025-09-15 CVE Updated
  • 2025-12-02 EPSS Updated
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
  • ---------- First Exploit
CWE
CAPEC
Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions
Vendor Product Version Other Status
Vendor Product Version Other Status <-- --> Vendor Product Version Other Status
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
< 4.14.316
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " < 4.14.316"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
< 4.19.284
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " < 4.19.284"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
< 5.4.244
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " < 5.4.244"
en
Affected
Linux
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Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
< 5.10.181
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " < 5.10.181"
en
Affected
Linux
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Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
< 5.15.113
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " < 5.15.113"
en
Affected
Linux
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Linux Kernel
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< 6.1.30
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en
Affected
Linux
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Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
< 6.3.4
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en
Affected
Linux
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Linux Kernel
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< 6.4
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " < 6.4"
en
Affected