# CVE-2023-53507: net/mlx5: Unregister devlink params in case interface is down

> A missing unregister call in the mlx5 driver causes a kernel warning and potential crash during shutdown when the interface is down.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 1 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53507, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53507, GHSA-q74c-c6q2-f852, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53507

## What is CVE-2023-53507?

CVE-2023-53507 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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:

net/mlx5: Unregister devlink params in case interface is down

Currently, in case an interface is down, mlx5 driver doesn't
unregister its devlink params, which leads to this WARN[1].
Fix it by unregistering devlink params in that case as well.

[1]
[  295.244769 ] WARNING: CPU: 15 PID: 1 at net/core/devlink.c:9042 devlink_free+0x174/0x1fc
[  295.488379 ] CPU: 15 PID: 1 Comm: shutdown Tainted: G S         OE 5.15.0-1017.19.3.g0677e61-bluefield #g0677e61
[  295.509330 ] Hardware name: https://www.mellanox.com BlueField SoC/BlueField SoC, BIOS 4.2.0.12761 Jun  6 2023
[  295.543096 ] pc : devlink_free+0x174/0x1fc
[  295.551104 ] lr : mlx5_devlink_free+0x18/0x2c [mlx5_core]
[  295.561816 ] sp : ffff80000809b850
[  295.711155 ] Call trace:
[  295.716030 ]  devlink_free+0x174/0x1fc
[  295.723346 ]  mlx5_devlink_free+0x18/0x2c [mlx5_core]
[  295.733351 ]  mlx5_sf_dev_remove+0x98/0xb0 [mlx5_core]
[  295.743534 ]  auxiliary_bus_remove+0x2c/0x50
[  295.751893 ]  __device_release_driver+0x19c/0x280
[  295.761120 ]  device_release_driver+0x34/0x50
[  295.769649 ]  bus_remove_device+0xdc/0x170
[  295.777656 ]  device_del+0x17c/0x3a4
[  295.784620 ]  mlx5_sf_dev_remove+0x28/0xf0 [mlx5_core]
[  295.794800 ]  mlx5_sf_dev_table_destroy+0x98/0x110 [mlx5_core]
[  295.806375 ]  mlx5_unload+0x34/0xd0 [mlx5_core]
[  295.815339 ]  mlx5_unload_one+0x70/0xe4 [mlx5_core]
[  295.824998 ]  shutdown+0xb0/0xd8 [mlx5_core]
[  295.833439 ]  pci_device_shutdown+0x3c/0xa0
[  295.841651 ]  device_shutdown+0x170/0x340
[  295.849486 ]  __do_sys_reboot+0x1f4/0x2a0
[  295.857322 ]  __arm64_sys_reboot+0x2c/0x40
[  295.865329 ]  invoke_syscall+0x78/0x100
[  295.872817 ]  el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x54/0x184
[  295.882392 ]  do_el0_svc+0x30/0xac
[  295.889008 ]  el0_svc+0x48/0x160
[  295.895278 ]  el0t_64_sync_handler+0xa4/0x130
[  295.903807 ]  el0t_64_sync+0x1a4/0x1a8
[  295.911120 ] ---[ end trace 4f1d2381d00d9dce  ]---

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53507?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53507?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53507 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53507 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-2023-53507 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53507 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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-2023-53507 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-2023-53507/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53507/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53507
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53507
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53507

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53507/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
