# CVE-2023-53056: scsi: qla2xxx: Synchronize the IOCB count to be in order

> A null pointer dereference in the qla2xxx SCSI driver causes a system hang, requiring a kernel patch to resolve.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 May 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53056, GHSA-73hf-7859-jq27, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53056

## What is CVE-2023-53056?

CVE-2023-53056 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

scsi: qla2xxx: Synchronize the IOCB count to be in order

A system hang was observed with the following call trace:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
PGD 0 P4D 0
Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI
CPU: 15 PID: 86747 Comm: nvme Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.2.0+ #1
Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R6515/04F3CJ, BIOS 2.7.3 03/31/2022
RIP: 0010:__wake_up_common+0x55/0x190
Code: 41 f6 01 04 0f 85 b2 00 00 00 48 8b 43 08 4c 8d
      40 e8 48 8d 43 08 48 89 04 24 48 89 c6\
      49 8d 40 18 48 39 c6 0f 84 e9 00 00 00 <49> 8b 40 18 89 6c 24 14 31
      ed 4c 8d 60 e8 41 8b 18 f6 c3 04 75 5d
RSP: 0018:ffffb05a82afbba0 EFLAGS: 00010082
RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8f9b83a00018 RCX: 0000000000000000
RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: ffff8f9b83a00020 RDI: ffff8f9b83a00018
RBP: 0000000000000001 R08: ffffffffffffffe8 R09: ffffb05a82afbbf8
R10: 70735f7472617473 R11: 5f30307832616c71 R12: 0000000000000001
R13: 0000000000000003 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000
FS:  00007f815cf4c740(0000) GS:ffff8f9eeed80000(0000)
	knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 000000010633a000 CR4: 0000000000350ee0
Call Trace:
    <TASK>
    __wake_up_common_lock+0x83/0xd0
    qla_nvme_ls_req+0x21b/0x2b0 [qla2xxx]
    __nvme_fc_send_ls_req+0x1b5/0x350 [nvme_fc]
    nvme_fc_xmt_disconnect_assoc+0xca/0x110 [nvme_fc]
    nvme_fc_delete_association+0x1bf/0x220 [nvme_fc]
    ? nvme_remove_namespaces+0x9f/0x140 [nvme_core]
    nvme_do_delete_ctrl+0x5b/0xa0 [nvme_core]
    nvme_sysfs_delete+0x5f/0x70 [nvme_core]
    kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x12b/0x1c0
    vfs_write+0x2a3/0x3b0
    ksys_write+0x5f/0xe0
    do_syscall_64+0x5c/0x90
    ? syscall_exit_work+0x103/0x130
    ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x12/0x30
    ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x90
    ? exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xd0/0x130
    ? exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0xec/0x100
    ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x12/0x30
    ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x90
    ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x12/0x30
    ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x90
    entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc
    RIP: 0033:0x7f815cd3eb97

The IOCB counts are out of order and that would block any commands from
going out and subsequently hang the system. Synchronize the IOCB count to
be in correct order.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53056?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53056?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53056 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53056 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53056 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53056 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53056 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53056/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53056/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53056
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53056
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53056

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53056/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
