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VulnerabilityAwaiting classification

CVE-2023-54237

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-12-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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: net/smc: fix potential panic dues to unprotected smc_llc_srv_add_link() There is a certain chance to trigger the following panic: PID: 5900 TASK: ffff88c1c8af4100 CPU: 1 COMMAND: "kworker/1:48" #0 [ffff9456c1cc79a0] machine_kexec at ffffffff870665b7 #1 [ffff9456c1cc79f0] __crash_kexec at ffffffff871b4c7a #2 [ffff9456c1cc7ab0] crash_kexec at ffffffff871b5b60 #3 [ffff9456c1cc7ac0] oops_end at ffffffff87026ce7 #4 [ffff9456c1cc7ae0] page_fault_oops at ffffffff87075715 #5 [ffff9456c1cc7b58] exc_page_fault at ffffffff87ad0654 #6 [ffff9456c1cc7b80] asm_exc_page_fault at ffffffff87c00b62 [exception RIP: ib_alloc_mr+19] RIP: ffffffffc0c9cce3 RSP: ffff9456c1cc7c38 RFLAGS: 00010202 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000002 RCX: 0000000000000004 RDX: 0000000000000010 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: ffff88c1ea281d00 R8: 000000020a34ffff R9: ffff88c1350bbb20 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000010 R14: ffff88c1ab040a50 R15: ffff88c1ea281d00 ORIG_RAX: ffffffffffffffff CS: 0010 SS: 0018 #7 [ffff9456c1cc7c60] smc_ib_get_memory_region at ffffffffc0aff6df [smc] #8 [ffff9456c1cc7c88] smcr_buf_map_link at ffffffffc0b0278c [smc] #9 [ffff9456c1cc7ce0] __smc_buf_create at ffffffffc0b03586 [smc] The reason here is that when the server tries to create a second link, smc_llc_srv_add_link() has no protection and may add a new link to link group. This breaks the security environment protected by llc_conf_mutex.

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 · high confidence

The smc_llc_srv_add_link() function in the Linux kernel's SMC (Shared Memory Communications) protocol lacks proper synchronization protection when adding a new link to a link group during server-side second link creation. This race condition breaks the security environment protected by llc_conf_mutex, leading to a NULL pointer dereference in ib_alloc_mr() which triggers a kernel panic.

MitigationApply the upstream kernel patch that adds proper locking to smc_llc_srv_add_link() to ensure thread-safe access to link group data structures, then update the kernel and reboot.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check kernel version for patch status
    Run 'uname -r' to get the kernel version, then check if the version is older than the version that includes the fix for CVE-2023-54237 (kernel versions with the fix applied). Compare your kernel to upstream kernel changelogs for this CVE.
    Affected if The kernel version is older than the version containing the CVE-2023-54237 fix and SMC is in use.
  2. Determine if SMC module is loaded
    Run 'lsmod | grep smc' or 'modinfo smc' to check if the SMC (smc, smc_ism, smc_diag) kernel modules are loaded or available.
    Affected if SMC modules are loaded and the kernel version is vulnerable.
  3. Verify SMC is actively configured
    Check /proc/net/smc or run 'smc_dump -v' if available, or look for SMC-related configurations in /sys/kernel/debug/smc/ to see if SMC connections or links are active.
    Affected if SMC links or connections are actively established on the system.
  4. Check for InfiniBand hardware or software RDMA
    Run 'rdma link' or 'ls /sys/class/infiniband/' to detect InfiniBand or RDMA devices. The vulnerability triggers during IB memory region allocation.
    Affected if RDMA/InfiniBand devices are present and SMC is enabled.
  5. Identify server role with multiple SMC links
    Review system logs and SMC connection state for evidence of servers that have created multiple SMC links, which is the specific trigger condition for the race condition.
    Affected if The system acts as an SMC server and has or attempts to create a second SMC link.

A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable Linux kernel version, has SMC modules loaded or active, uses RDMA/InfiniBand, and operates as an SMC server creating multiple links.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the upstream kernel patch that adds proper locking to smc_llc_srv_add_link() to ensure thread-safe access to link group data structures, then update the kernel and reboot.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,120
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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-2023-54237 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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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