CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2023-53252

Use After Free

Published: Sep 15, 2025 | Modified: Dec 03, 2025
CVSS 3.x
7.8
HIGH
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.x
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
6 MODERATE
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H
Ubuntu
MEDIUM

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

Bluetooth: use RCU for hci_conn_params and iterate safely in hci_sync

hci_update_accept_list_sync iterates over hdev->pend_le_conns and hdev->pend_le_reports, and waits for controller events in the loop body, without holding hdev lock.

Meanwhile, these lists and the items may be modified e.g. by le_scan_cleanup. This can invalidate the list cursor or any other item in the list, resulting to invalid behavior (eg use-after-free).

Use RCU for the hci_conn_params action lists. Since the loop bodies in hci_sync block and we cannot use RCU or hdev->lock for the whole loop, copy list items first and then iterate on the copy. Only the flags field is written from elsewhere, so READ_ONCE/WRITE_ONCE should guarantee we read valid values.

Free params everywhere with hci_conn_params_free so the cleanup is guaranteed to be done properly.

This fixes the following, which can be triggered e.g. by BlueZ new mgmt-tester case Add + Remove Device Nowait - Success, or by changing hci_le_set_cig_params to always return false, and running iso-tester:

================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in hci_update_passive_scan_sync (net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2536 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2723 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2841) Read of size 8 at addr ffff888001265018 by task kworker/u3:0/32

Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.2-1.fc38 04/01/2014 Workqueue: hci0 hci_cmd_sync_work Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl (./arch/x86/include/asm/irqflags.h:134 lib/dump_stack.c:107) print_report (mm/kasan/report.c:320 mm/kasan/report.c:430) ? __virt_addr_valid (./include/linux/mmzone.h:1915 ./include/linux/mmzone.h:2011 arch/x86/mm/physaddr.c:65) ? hci_update_passive_scan_sync (net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2536 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2723 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2841) kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:538) ? hci_update_passive_scan_sync (net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2536 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2723 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2841) hci_update_passive_scan_sync (net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2536 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2723 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2841) ? __pfx_hci_update_passive_scan_sync (net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2780) ? mutex_lock (kernel/locking/mutex.c:282) ? __pfx_mutex_lock (kernel/locking/mutex.c:282) ? __pfx_mutex_unlock (kernel/locking/mutex.c:538) ? __pfx_update_passive_scan_sync (net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:2861) hci_cmd_sync_work (net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:306) process_one_work (./arch/x86/include/asm/preempt.h:27 kernel/workqueue.c:2399) worker_thread (./include/linux/list.h:292 kernel/workqueue.c:2538) ? __pfx_worker_thread (kernel/workqueue.c:2480) kthread (kernel/kthread.c:376) ? __pfx_kthread (kernel/kthread.c:331) ret_from_fork (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:314)

Allocated by task 31: kasan_save_stack (mm/kasan/common.c:46) kasan_set_track (mm/kasan/common.c:52) __kasan_kmalloc (mm/kasan/common.c:374 mm/kasan/common.c:383) hci_conn_params_add (./include/linux/slab.h:580 ./include/linux/slab.h:720 net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:2277) hci_connect_le_scan (net/bluetooth/hci_conn.c:1419 net/bluetooth/hci_conn.c:1589) hci_connect_cis (net/bluetooth/hci_conn.c:2266) iso_connect_cis (net/bluetooth/iso.c:390) iso_sock_connect (net/bluetooth/iso.c:899) __sys_connect (net/socket.c:2003 net/socket.c:2020) __x64_sys_connect (net/socket.c:2027) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:120)

Freed by task 15: kasan_save_stack (mm/kasan/common.c:46) kasan_set_track (mm/kasan/common.c:52) kasan_save_free_info (mm/kasan/generic.c:523) __kasan_slab_free (mm/kasan/common.c:238 mm/kasan/common.c:200 mm/kasan/common.c:244) __kmem_cache_free (mm/slub.c:1807 mm/slub.c:3787 mm/slub.c:3800) hci_conn_params_del (net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:2323) le_scan_cleanup (net/bluetooth/hci_conn.c:202) process_one_work (./arch/x86/include/asm/preempt. —truncated—

Weakness

The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory “belongs” to the code that operates on the new pointer.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Linux_kernel Linux 5.17 (including) 6.1.42 (excluding)
Linux_kernel Linux 6.2 (including) 6.4.7 (excluding)
Linux_kernel Linux 6.5-rc1 (including) 6.5-rc1 (including)
Linux_kernel Linux 6.5-rc2 (including) 6.5-rc2 (including)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 RedHat kernel-0:5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4 *
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 RedHat kernel-0:5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4 *
Linux Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-allwinner-5.19 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-allwinner-5.19 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-5.0 Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-aws-5.0 Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-aws-5.0 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-5.11 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-aws-5.11 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-aws-5.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-5.13 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-aws-5.13 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-aws-5.13 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-5.19 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-aws-5.19 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-5.3 Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-aws-5.3 Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-aws-5.3 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-5.4 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-5.8 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-aws-5.8 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-aws-5.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-6.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-6.2 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-aws-6.2 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-6.5 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-aws-6.5 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-fips Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-aws-fips Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-aws-fips Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-aws-hwe Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-azure Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-azure Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-4.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-5.11 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-azure-5.11 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-azure-5.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-5.13 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-azure-5.13 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-azure-5.13 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-5.19 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-azure-5.19 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-5.3 Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-azure-5.3 Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-azure-5.3 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-5.4 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-5.8 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-azure-5.8 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-azure-5.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-6.11 Ubuntu noble *
Linux-azure-6.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-6.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-6.2 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-azure-6.2 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-6.5 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-azure-6.5 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-edge Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-azure-edge Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-azure-edge Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-fde Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-azure-fde Ubuntu focal *
Linux-azure-fde Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-fde-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-fde-5.19 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-azure-fde-5.19 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-fde-6.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-fde-6.2 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-azure-fde-6.2 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-fips Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-azure-fips Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-fips Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-azure-nvidia Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-bluefield Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-fips Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-gcp Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-gcp Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-4.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-5.11 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-gcp-5.11 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-gcp-5.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-5.13 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-gcp-5.13 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-gcp-5.13 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-5.19 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-gcp-5.19 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-5.3 Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-gcp-5.3 Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-gcp-5.3 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-5.4 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-5.8 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-gcp-5.8 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-gcp-5.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-6.11 Ubuntu noble *
Linux-gcp-6.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-6.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-6.2 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-gcp-6.2 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-6.5 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-gcp-6.5 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-fips Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-gcp-fips Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gcp-fips Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-gke Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-gke Ubuntu focal *
Linux-gke Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gke Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-gke-4.15 Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-gke-4.15 Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-gke-4.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gke-5.15 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-gke-5.15 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-gke-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gke-5.4 Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-gke-5.4 Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-gke-5.4 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gkeop Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-gkeop Ubuntu focal *
Linux-gkeop Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gkeop-5.15 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-gkeop-5.15 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-gkeop-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gkeop-5.4 Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-gkeop-5.4 Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-gkeop-5.4 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-hwe Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-hwe Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-5.11 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-hwe-5.11 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-hwe-5.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-5.13 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-hwe-5.13 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-hwe-5.13 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-5.19 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-hwe-5.19 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-5.4 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-5.8 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-hwe-5.8 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-hwe-5.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-6.11 Ubuntu noble *
Linux-hwe-6.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-6.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-6.2 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-hwe-6.2 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-6.5 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-hwe-6.5 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-edge Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-hwe-edge Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-hwe-edge Ubuntu esm-infra/xenial *
Linux-hwe-edge Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-edge Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-ibm Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-ibm-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-ibm-5.4 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-ibm-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-intel Ubuntu noble *
Linux-intel Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-intel-5.13 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-intel-5.13 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-intel-5.13 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-intel-iot-realtime Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-intel-iot-realtime Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-intel-iotg Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-intel-iotg-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-iot Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-kvm Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lowlatency Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Ubuntu noble *
Linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-nvidia Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-nvidia-6.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-nvidia-6.2 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-nvidia-6.2 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-nvidia-6.5 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-nvidia-6.5 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-nvidia-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-nvidia-lowlatency Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-nvidia-tegra Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-nvidia-tegra-igx Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-oem Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-oem Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-oem-5.10 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-oem-5.10 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-oem-5.10 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem-5.13 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-oem-5.13 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-oem-5.13 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem-5.14 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-oem-5.14 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-oem-5.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem-5.17 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-oem-5.17 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem-5.6 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-oem-5.6 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-oem-5.6 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem-6.0 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-oem-6.0 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem-6.1 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-oem-6.1 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem-6.11 Ubuntu noble *
Linux-oem-6.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem-6.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem-6.5 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-oem-6.5 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem-6.8 Ubuntu noble *
Linux-oem-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle-5.0 Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-oracle-5.0 Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-oracle-5.0 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle-5.11 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-oracle-5.11 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-oracle-5.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle-5.13 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-oracle-5.13 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-oracle-5.13 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle-5.3 Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-oracle-5.3 Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-oracle-5.3 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle-5.4 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle-5.8 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-oracle-5.8 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-oracle-5.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle-6.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle-6.5 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-oracle-6.5 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oracle-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-raspi Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-raspi-5.4 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-raspi-realtime Ubuntu noble *
Linux-raspi-realtime Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-raspi2 Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-raspi2 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-raspi2 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-raspi2 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-raspi2 Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-realtime Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-realtime Ubuntu noble *
Linux-realtime Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-realtime-6.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-realtime-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-riscv Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-riscv Ubuntu focal *
Linux-riscv Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-riscv Ubuntu noble *
Linux-riscv Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-riscv-5.11 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-riscv-5.11 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-riscv-5.11 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-riscv-5.15 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-riscv-5.19 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-riscv-5.19 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-riscv-5.8 Ubuntu esm-infra/focal *
Linux-riscv-5.8 Ubuntu focal *
Linux-riscv-5.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-riscv-6.14 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-riscv-6.5 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-riscv-6.5 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-riscv-6.8 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-starfive-5.19 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-starfive-5.19 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-starfive-6.2 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-starfive-6.2 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-starfive-6.5 Ubuntu jammy *
Linux-starfive-6.5 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-xilinx-zynqmp Ubuntu upstream *

Potential Mitigations

References