CVE-2023-53762 Bluetooth: hci_sync: Fix UAF in hci_disconnect_all_sync
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel Bluetooth subsystem allows attackers to cause a system crash or potentially execute arbitrary code.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-53762?
CVE-2023-53762 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 8 Dec 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:
Bluetooth: hci_sync: Fix UAF in hci_disconnect_all_sync
Use-after-free can occur in hci_disconnect_all_sync if a connection is deleted by concurrent processing of a controller event.
To prevent this the code now tries to iterate over the list backwards to ensure the links are cleanup before its parents, also it no longer relies on a cursor, instead it always uses the last element since hci_abort_conn_sync is guaranteed to call hci_conn_del.
UAF crash log: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in hci_set_powered_sync (net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:5424) [bluetooth] Read of size 8 at addr ffff888009d9c000 by task kworker/u9:0/124
CPU: 0 PID: 124 Comm: kworker/u9:0 Tainted: G W 6.5.0-rc1+ #10 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.2-1.fc38 04/01/2014 Workqueue: hci0 hci_cmd_sync_work [bluetooth] Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x5b/0x90 print_report+0xcf/0x670 ? __virt_addr_valid+0xdd/0x160 ? hci_set_powered_sync+0x2c9/0x4a0 [bluetooth] kasan_report+0xa6/0xe0 ? hci_set_powered_sync+0x2c9/0x4a0 [bluetooth] ? __pfx_set_powered_sync+0x10/0x10 [bluetooth] hci_set_powered_sync+0x2c9/0x4a0 [bluetooth] ? __pfx_hci_set_powered_sync+0x10/0x10 [bluetooth] ? __pfx_lock_release+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_set_powered_sync+0x10/0x10 [bluetooth] hci_cmd_sync_work+0x137/0x220 [bluetooth] process_one_work+0x526/0x9d0 ? __pfx_process_one_work+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_do_raw_spin_lock+0x10/0x10 ? mark_held_locks+0x1a/0x90 worker_thread+0x92/0x630 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 kthread+0x196/0x1e0 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x2c/0x50 </TASK>
Allocated by task 1782: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_set_track+0x25/0x30 __kasan_kmalloc+0x8f/0xa0 hci_conn_add+0xa5/0xa80 [bluetooth] hci_bind_cis+0x881/0x9b0 [bluetooth] iso_connect_cis+0x121/0x520 [bluetooth] iso_sock_connect+0x3f6/0x790 [bluetooth] __sys_connect+0x109/0x130 __x64_sys_connect+0x40/0x50 do_syscall_64+0x60/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8
Freed by task 695: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_set_track+0x25/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x2b/0x50 __kasan_slab_free+0x10a/0x180 __kmem_cache_free+0x14d/0x2e0 device_release+0x5d/0xf0 kobject_put+0xdf/0x270 hci_disconn_complete_evt+0x274/0x3a0 [bluetooth] hci_event_packet+0x579/0x7e0 [bluetooth] hci_rx_work+0x287/0xaa0 [bluetooth] process_one_work+0x526/0x9d0 worker_thread+0x92/0x630 kthread+0x196/0x1e0 ret_from_fork+0x2c/0x50 ==================================================================
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53762?
How do I fix CVE-2023-53762?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2023-53762 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53762 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53762, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53762, GHSA-v6x6-vgmm-x298, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2023-53762, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53762.