CVE-2023-53531
null_blk: fix poll request timeout handling
Severity Score
Exploit Likelihood
Affected Versions
Public Exploits
0Exploited in Wild
-Decision
Descriptions
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/3893581.1691785261@warthog.procyon.org.uk/
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/3893581.1691785261@warthog.procyon.org.uk/
This update provides the initial livepatch for this kernel update. This update does not contain any fixes and will be updated with livepatches later.
CVSS Scores
SSVC
- Decision:-
Timeline
- 2025-10-01 CVE Reserved
- 2025-10-01 CVE Published
- 2025-10-02 CVE Updated
- 2026-03-11 EPSS Updated
- ---------- Exploited in Wild
- ---------- KEV Due Date
- ---------- First Exploit
CWE
- CWE-366: Race Condition within a Thread
CAPEC
References (6)
| URL | Tag | Source |
|---|---|---|
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a593fbbc245a85940ed34caa3aa1e4cb060c54b | Vuln. Introduced |
| URL | Date | SRC |
|---|
| URL | Date | SRC |
|---|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53531 | 2024-11-12 | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2400691 | 2024-11-12 |
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" | >= 5.16 < 6.1.54 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.16 < 6.1.54" | en |
Affected
| ||||||
| Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | >= 5.16 < 6.5.4 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.16 < 6.5.4" | en |
Affected
| ||||||
| Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | >= 5.16 < 6.6 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.16 < 6.6" | en |
Affected
| ||||||
