# CVE-2023-53281: drivers: staging: rtl8723bs: Fix locking in _rtw_join_timeout_handler()

> A locking error in the rtl8723bs Wi-Fi driver causes a kernel oops and system crash when handling join timeouts.

- **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:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53281, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53281, GHSA-vjmw-vhp2-pcr2, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53281

## What is CVE-2023-53281?

CVE-2023-53281 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:

drivers: staging: rtl8723bs: Fix locking in _rtw_join_timeout_handler()

Commit 041879b12ddb ("drivers: staging: rtl8192bs: Fix deadlock in
rtw_joinbss_event_prehandle()") besides fixing the deadlock also
modified _rtw_join_timeout_handler() to use spin_[un]lock_irq()
instead of spin_[un]lock_bh().

_rtw_join_timeout_handler() calls rtw_do_join() which takes
pmlmepriv->scanned_queue.lock using spin_[un]lock_bh(). This
spin_unlock_bh() call re-enables softirqs which triggers an oops in
kernel/softirq.c: __local_bh_enable_ip() when it calls
lockdep_assert_irqs_enabled():

[  244.506087] WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 0 at kernel/softirq.c:376 __local_bh_enable_ip+0xa6/0x100
...
[  244.509022] Call Trace:
[  244.509048]  <IRQ>
[  244.509100]  _rtw_join_timeout_handler+0x134/0x170 [r8723bs]
[  244.509468]  ? __pfx__rtw_join_timeout_handler+0x10/0x10 [r8723bs]
[  244.509772]  ? __pfx__rtw_join_timeout_handler+0x10/0x10 [r8723bs]
[  244.510076]  call_timer_fn+0x95/0x2a0
[  244.510200]  __run_timers.part.0+0x1da/0x2d0

This oops is causd by the switch to spin_[un]lock_irq() which disables
the IRQs for the entire duration of _rtw_join_timeout_handler().

Disabling the IRQs is not necessary since all code taking this lock
runs from either user contexts or from softirqs, switch back to
spin_[un]lock_bh() to fix this.

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53281?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53281?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53281 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53281 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-2023-53281 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53281 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-2023-53281 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-2023-53281/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53281/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53281
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53281
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53281

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53281/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.