Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53056

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.105 / 6.1.22 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: qla2xxx: Synchronize the IOCB count to be in order A system hang was observed with the following call trace: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 15 PID: 86747 Comm: nvme Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.2.0+ #1 Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R6515/04F3CJ, BIOS 2.7.3 03/31/2022 RIP: 0010:__wake_up_common+0x55/0x190 Code: 41 f6 01 04 0f 85 b2 00 00 00 48 8b 43 08 4c 8d 40 e8 48 8d 43 08 48 89 04 24 48 89 c6\ 49 8d 40 18 48 39 c6 0f 84 e9 00 00 00 <49> 8b 40 18 89 6c 24 14 31 ed 4c 8d 60 e8 41 8b 18 f6 c3 04 75 5d RSP: 0018:ffffb05a82afbba0 EFLAGS: 00010082 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8f9b83a00018 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: ffff8f9b83a00020 RDI: ffff8f9b83a00018 RBP: 0000000000000001 R08: ffffffffffffffe8 R09: ffffb05a82afbbf8 R10: 70735f7472617473 R11: 5f30307832616c71 R12: 0000000000000001 R13: 0000000000000003 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 FS: 00007f815cf4c740(0000) GS:ffff8f9eeed80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 000000010633a000 CR4: 0000000000350ee0 Call Trace: <TASK> __wake_up_common_lock+0x83/0xd0 qla_nvme_ls_req+0x21b/0x2b0 [qla2xxx] __nvme_fc_send_ls_req+0x1b5/0x350 [nvme_fc] nvme_fc_xmt_disconnect_assoc+0xca/0x110 [nvme_fc] nvme_fc_delete_association+0x1bf/0x220 [nvme_fc] ? nvme_remove_namespaces+0x9f/0x140 [nvme_core] nvme_do_delete_ctrl+0x5b/0xa0 [nvme_core] nvme_sysfs_delete+0x5f/0x70 [nvme_core] kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x12b/0x1c0 vfs_write+0x2a3/0x3b0 ksys_write+0x5f/0xe0 do_syscall_64+0x5c/0x90 ? syscall_exit_work+0x103/0x130 ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x12/0x30 ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x90 ? exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xd0/0x130 ? exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0xec/0x100 ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x12/0x30 ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x90 ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x12/0x30 ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc RIP: 0033:0x7f815cd3eb97 The IOCB counts are out of order and that would block any commands from going out and subsequently hang the system. Synchronize the IOCB count to be in correct order.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.15.99, < 5.15.105>= 6.1.16, < 6.1.22>= 6.2.3, < 6.2.9= 6.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.15.105 / 6.1.22 / 6.2.9 or later
Fixed in 5.15.1056.1.226.2.9
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 5.15.105+, 6.1.22+, 6.2.9+, or 6.4+ (depending on which branch you are on)

  1. 1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Check which distribution-specific kernel package is installed (e.g., via `dpkg -l | grep linux-image` for Debian/Ubuntu or `rpm -q kernel` for RHEL/CentOS)
  3. 3. Upgrade the kernel package to a fixed version: 5.15.105 or later for 5.15.x kernels, 6.1.22 or later for 6.1.x kernels, 6.2.9 or later for 6.2.x kernels, or 6.4 or later for 6.3.x kernels
  4. 4. For Debian/Ubuntu: run `apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-<version>`
  5. 5. For RHEL/CentOS: run `yum update kernel`
  6. 6. For SUSE: run `zypper update kernel-default`
  7. 7. Reboot the system to load the new kernel: `systemctl reboot`
  8. 8. After reboot, verify the new kernel version is running with `uname -r`
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting and could have driver/compatibility implications; test in staging first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53056 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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