CVE-2023-53176: linux kernel — Fix

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: serial: 8250: Reinit port->pm on port specific driver unbind When we unbind a serial port hardware specific 8250 driver, the generic serial8250 driver takes over the port. After that we see an oops about 10 seconds later. This can produce the following at least on some TI SoCs: Unhandled fault: imprecise external abort (0x1406) Internal error: : 1406 [#1] SMP ARM Turns out that we may still have the serial port hardware specific driver port->pm in use, and serial8250_pm() tries to call it after the port specific driver is gone: serial8250_pm [8250_base] from uart_change_pm+0x54/0x8c [serial_base] uart_change_pm [serial_base] from uart_hangup+0x154/0x198 [serial_base] uart_hangup [serial_base] from __tty_hangup.part.0+0x328/0x37c __tty_hangup.part.0 from disassociate_ctty+0x154/0x20c disassociate_ctty from do_exit+0x744/0xaac do_exit from do_group_exit+0x40/0x8c do_group_exit from __wake_up_parent+0x0/0x1c Let's fix the issue by calling serial8250_set_defaults() in serial8250_unregister_port(). This will set the port back to using the serial8250 default functions, and sets the port->pm to point to serial8250_pm.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5

MEDIUM

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

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
linux	linux_kernel	< 4.14.316
linux	linux_kernel	4.15 — 4.19.284
linux	linux_kernel	4.20 — 5.4.244
linux	linux_kernel	5.5 — 5.10.181
linux	linux_kernel	5.11 — 5.15.113
linux	linux_kernel	5.16 — 6.1.30
linux	linux_kernel	6.2 — 6.3.4

References

Advisories & Patches

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/04e82793f068d2f0ffe62fcea03d007a8cdc16a7 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1ba5594739d858e524ff0f398ee1ebfe0a8b9d41 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2c86a1305c1406f45ea780d06953c484ea1d9e6e https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/490bf37eaabb0a857ed1ae8e75d8854e41662f1c https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8e596aed5f2f98cf3e6e98d6fe1d689f4a319308 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af4d6dbb1a92ea424ad1ba1d0c88c7fa2345d872 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c9e080c3005fd183c56ff8f4d75edb5da0765d2c https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5cd2928d31042a7c0a01464f9a8d95be736421d

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-53176? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: serial: 8250: Reinit port->pm on port specific driver unbind When we unbind a serial port hardware specific 8250 driver, the generic serial8250 driver takes over the port. After that we see an oops about 10 seconds later. This can produce the following at least on some TI SoCs: Unhandled fault: imprecise external abort (0x1406) Internal error: : 1406 [#1] SMP ARM Turns out that we may still have the serial port hardware specific driver port->pm in use, and serial8250_pm() tries to call it after the port specific driver is gone: serial8250_pm [8250_base] from uart_change_pm+0x54/0x8c [serial_base] uart_change_pm [serial_base] from uart_hangup+0x154/0x198 [serial_base] uart_hangup [serial_base] from __tty_hangup.part.0+0x328/0x37c __tty_hangup.part.0 from disassociate_ctty+0x154/0x20c disassociate_ctty from do_exit+0x744/0xaac do_exit from do_group_exit+0x40/0x8c do_group_exit from __wake_up_parent+0x0/0x1c Let's fix the issue by calling serial8250_set_defaults() in serial8250_unregister_port(). This will set the port back to using the serial8250 default functions, and sets the port->pm to point to serial8250_pm. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2023-53176? +

CVE-2023-53176 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.

What products are affected by CVE-2023-53176? +

CVE-2023-53176 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2023-53176? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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CVE-2023-53176