Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2023-53280
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: qla2xxx: Remove unused nvme_ls_waitq wait queue System crash when qla2x00_start_sp(sp) returns error code EGAIN and wake_up gets called for uninitialized wait queue sp->nvme_ls_waitq. qla2xxx [0000:37:00.1]-2121:5: Returning existing qpair of ffff8ae2c0513400 for idx=0 qla2xxx [0000:37:00.1]-700e:5: qla2x00_start_sp failed = 11 BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0000000000000000 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI Hardware name: HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen10/ProLiant DL360 Gen10, BIOS U32 09/03/2021 Workqueue: nvme-wq nvme_fc_connect_ctrl_work [nvme_fc] RIP: 0010:__wake_up_common+0x4c/0x190 RSP: 0018:ffff95f3e0cb7cd0 EFLAGS: 00010086 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8b08d3b26328 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 0000000000000003 RDI: ffff8b08d3b26320 RBP: 0000000000000001 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffffffffffffe8 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: ffff95f3e0cb7a60 R12: ffff95f3e0cb7d20 R13: 0000000000000003 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8b2fdf6c0000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 0000002f1e410002 CR4: 00000000007706e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: __wake_up_common_lock+0x7c/0xc0 qla_nvme_ls_req+0x355/0x4c0 [qla2xxx] ? __nvme_fc_send_ls_req+0x260/0x380 [nvme_fc] ? nvme_fc_send_ls_req.constprop.42+0x1a/0x45 [nvme_fc] ? nvme_fc_connect_ctrl_work.cold.63+0x1e3/0xa7d [nvme_fc] Remove unused nvme_ls_waitq wait queue. nvme_ls_waitq logic was removed previously in the commits tagged Fixed: below.
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 analysisThe 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
>= 4.14, < 5.4.251>= 5.5, < 5.10.188>= 5.11, < 5.15.121>= 5.16, < 6.1.40>= 6.2, < 6.4.5CVSS 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 · scoped5.4.2515.10.1885.15.121
Linux Kernel 5.4.251, 5.10.188, 5.15.121, or 6.1.40 (or later stable release in your respective branch)
- Check current kernel version with: uname -r
- Identify the appropriate fixed kernel version based on your current minor version branch: 5.4.251+, 5.10.188+, 5.15.121+, or 6.1.40+
- Update the kernel package using your distribution's package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-<version> for Debian/Ubuntu, or yum/dnf update for RHEL/CentOS)
- Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-53280 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53280 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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