Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2023-53431
A fix is available.
Upgrade to 4.19.281 / 5.4.241 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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: ses: Handle enclosure with just a primary component gracefully This reverts commit 3fe97ff3d949 ("scsi: ses: Don't attach if enclosure has no components") and introduces proper handling of case where there are no detected secondary components, but primary component (enumerated in num_enclosures) does exist. That fix was originally proposed by Ding Hui <[email protected]>. Completely ignoring devices that have one primary enclosure and no secondary one results in ses_intf_add() bailing completely scsi 2:0:0:254: enclosure has no enumerated components scsi 2:0:0:254: Failed to bind enclosure -12ven in valid configurations such even on valid configurations with 1 primary and 0 secondary enclosures as below: # sg_ses /dev/sg0 3PARdata SES 3321 Supported diagnostic pages: Supported Diagnostic Pages [sdp] [0x0] Configuration (SES) [cf] [0x1] Short Enclosure Status (SES) [ses] [0x8] # sg_ses -p cf /dev/sg0 3PARdata SES 3321 Configuration diagnostic page: number of secondary subenclosures: 0 generation code: 0x0 enclosure descriptor list Subenclosure identifier: 0 [primary] relative ES process id: 0, number of ES processes: 1 number of type descriptor headers: 1 enclosure logical identifier (hex): 20000002ac02068d enclosure vendor: 3PARdata product: VV rev: 3321 type descriptor header and text list Element type: Unspecified, subenclosure id: 0 number of possible elements: 1 The changelog for the original fix follows ===== We can get a crash when disconnecting the iSCSI session, the call trace like this: [ffff00002a00fb70] kfree at ffff00000830e224 [ffff00002a00fba0] ses_intf_remove at ffff000001f200e4 [ffff00002a00fbd0] device_del at ffff0000086b6a98 [ffff00002a00fc50] device_unregister at ffff0000086b6d58 [ffff00002a00fc70] __scsi_remove_device at ffff00000870608c [ffff00002a00fca0] scsi_remove_device at ffff000008706134 [ffff00002a00fcc0] __scsi_remove_target at ffff0000087062e4 [ffff00002a00fd10] scsi_remove_target at ffff0000087064c0 [ffff00002a00fd70] __iscsi_unbind_session at ffff000001c872c4 [ffff00002a00fdb0] process_one_work at ffff00000810f35c [ffff00002a00fe00] worker_thread at ffff00000810f648 [ffff00002a00fe70] kthread at ffff000008116e98 In ses_intf_add, components count could be 0, and kcalloc 0 size scomp, but not saved in edev->component[i].scratch In this situation, edev->component[0].scratch is an invalid pointer, when kfree it in ses_intf_remove_enclosure, a crash like above would happen The call trace also could be other random cases when kfree cannot catch the invalid pointer We should not use edev->component[] array when the components count is 0 We also need check index when use edev->component[] array in ses_enclosure_data_process =====
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 analysisA detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.
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:
>= 2.6.25, < 4.19.281>= 4.20, < 5.4.241>= 5.5, < 5.10.178>= 5.11, < 5.15.108>= 5.16, < 6.1.25>= 6.2, < 6.2.12= 6.3CVSS 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 4.19.281 / 5.4.241 / 5.10.178 or later
Fixed in
4.19.2815.4.2415.10.178
Vendor patch
git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix
High confidence
Linux kernel 4.19.281+ / 5.4.241+ / 5.10.178+ / 5.15.108+ (depending on which branch you're on)
- Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r'
- Based on the current version, upgrade to a fixed release: for 4.19.x series upgrade to 4.19.281 or later; for 5.4.x series upgrade to 5.4.241 or later; for 5.10.x series upgrade to 5.10.178 or later; for 5.15.x series upgrade to 5.15.108 or later
- Use the distribution's package manager to install the updated kernel (e.g., 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade' on Debian/Ubuntu, or 'yum update' on RHEL/CentOS)
- Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and reviewing the ses driver code if needed
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility implications with existing kernel modules or custom drivers
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 $1,600.
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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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53431 in production — separate from our analysis above.
Know something about CVE-2023-53431?
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- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
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