# CVE-2023-54007: vmci_host: fix a race condition in vmci_host_poll() causing GPF

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's vmci_host_poll function allows a local attacker to cause a general protection fault and system crash.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54007, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54007, GHSA-j5xc-fjvv-7rjx, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54007

## What is CVE-2023-54007?

CVE-2023-54007 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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:

vmci_host: fix a race condition in vmci_host_poll() causing GPF

During fuzzing, a general protection fault is observed in
vmci_host_poll().

general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000019: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000000c8-0x00000000000000cf]
RIP: 0010:__lock_acquire+0xf3/0x5e00 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:4926
<- omitting registers ->
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 lock_acquire+0x1a4/0x4a0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5672
 __raw_spin_lock_irqsave include/linux/spinlock_api_smp.h:110 [inline]
 _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0xb3/0x100 kernel/locking/spinlock.c:162
 add_wait_queue+0x3d/0x260 kernel/sched/wait.c:22
 poll_wait include/linux/poll.h:49 [inline]
 vmci_host_poll+0xf8/0x2b0 drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_host.c:174
 vfs_poll include/linux/poll.h:88 [inline]
 do_pollfd fs/select.c:873 [inline]
 do_poll fs/select.c:921 [inline]
 do_sys_poll+0xc7c/0x1aa0 fs/select.c:1015
 __do_sys_ppoll fs/select.c:1121 [inline]
 __se_sys_ppoll+0x2cc/0x330 fs/select.c:1101
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:51 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x4e/0xa0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:82
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0

Example thread interleaving that causes the general protection fault
is as follows:

CPU1 (vmci_host_poll)               CPU2 (vmci_host_do_init_context)
-----                               -----
// Read uninitialized context
context = vmci_host_dev->context;
                                    // Initialize context
                                    vmci_host_dev->context = vmci_ctx_create();
                                    vmci_host_dev->ct_type = VMCIOBJ_CONTEXT;

if (vmci_host_dev->ct_type == VMCIOBJ_CONTEXT) {
    // Dereferencing the wrong pointer
    poll_wait(..., &context->host_context);
}

In this scenario, vmci_host_poll() reads vmci_host_dev->context first,
and then reads vmci_host_dev->ct_type to check that
vmci_host_dev->context is initialized. However, since these two reads
are not atomically executed, there is a chance of a race condition as
described above.

To fix this race condition, read vmci_host_dev->context after checking
the value of vmci_host_dev->ct_type so that vmci_host_poll() always
reads an initialized context.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54007?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54007?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54007 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54007 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54007 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54007 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 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-2023-54007 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2023-54007/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54007/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54007
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54007
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54007

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54007/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.