# CVE-2023-53280: scsi: qla2xxx: Remove unused nvme_ls_waitq wait queue

> A null pointer dereference in the qla2xxx SCSI driver causes a system crash when a specific error path is triggered during NVMe operations.

- **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:** 16 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53280, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53280, GHSA-3x66-jhf4-g79q, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53280

## What is CVE-2023-53280?

CVE-2023-53280 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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:

scsi: qla2xxx: Remove unused nvme_ls_waitq wait queue

System crash when qla2x00_start_sp(sp) returns error code EGAIN and wake_up
gets called for uninitialized wait queue sp->nvme_ls_waitq.

    qla2xxx [0000:37:00.1]-2121:5: Returning existing qpair of ffff8ae2c0513400 for idx=0
    qla2xxx [0000:37:00.1]-700e:5: qla2x00_start_sp failed = 11
    BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0000000000000000
    PGD 0 P4D 0
    Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
    Hardware name: HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen10/ProLiant DL360 Gen10, BIOS U32 09/03/2021
    Workqueue: nvme-wq nvme_fc_connect_ctrl_work [nvme_fc]
    RIP: 0010:__wake_up_common+0x4c/0x190
    RSP: 0018:ffff95f3e0cb7cd0 EFLAGS: 00010086
    RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8b08d3b26328 RCX: 0000000000000000
    RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 0000000000000003 RDI: ffff8b08d3b26320
    RBP: 0000000000000001 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffffffffffffe8
    R10: 0000000000000000 R11: ffff95f3e0cb7a60 R12: ffff95f3e0cb7d20
    R13: 0000000000000003 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000
    FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8b2fdf6c0000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
    CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
    CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 0000002f1e410002 CR4: 00000000007706e0
    DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
    DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
    PKRU: 55555554
    Call Trace:
     __wake_up_common_lock+0x7c/0xc0
     qla_nvme_ls_req+0x355/0x4c0 [qla2xxx]
     ? __nvme_fc_send_ls_req+0x260/0x380 [nvme_fc]
     ? nvme_fc_send_ls_req.constprop.42+0x1a/0x45 [nvme_fc]
     ? nvme_fc_connect_ctrl_work.cold.63+0x1e3/0xa7d [nvme_fc]

Remove unused nvme_ls_waitq wait queue. nvme_ls_waitq logic was removed
previously in the commits tagged Fixed: below.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53280?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53280?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53280 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53280 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-2023-53280 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53280 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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-2023-53280 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-2023-53280/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53280/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53280
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53280
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53280

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53280/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.