# CVE-2023-53168: usb: ucsi_acpi: Increase the command completion timeout

> A timeout misconfiguration in the Linux kernel UCSI ACPI driver can lead to a null pointer dereference and system crash when connecting specific USB-C monitors.

- **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:** 15 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53168, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53168, GHSA-mhq5-fgp5-4gpg, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53168, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53168

## What is CVE-2023-53168?

CVE-2023-53168 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 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:

usb: ucsi_acpi: Increase the command completion timeout

Commit 130a96d698d7 ("usb: typec: ucsi: acpi: Increase command
completion timeout value") increased the timeout from 5 seconds
to 60 seconds due to issues related to alternate mode discovery.

After the alternate mode discovery switch to polled mode
the timeout was reduced, but instead of being set back to
5 seconds it was reduced to 1 second.

This is causing problems when using a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 yoga gen7
connected over Type-C to a LG 27UL850-W (charging DP over Type-C).

When the monitor is already connected at boot the following error
is logged: "PPM init failed (-110)", /sys/class/typec is empty and
on unplugging the NULL pointer deref fixed earlier in this series
happens.

When the monitor is connected after boot the following error
is logged instead: "GET_CONNECTOR_STATUS failed (-110)".

Setting the timeout back to 5 seconds fixes both cases.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53168?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53168?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53168 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53168 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-2023-53168 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53168 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 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-2023-53168 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-2023-53168/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53168/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53168
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53168
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53168

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53168/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.