CVE-2023-54118 serial: sc16is7xx: setup GPIO controller later in probe
A race condition in the sc16is7xx serial driver can cause a kernel Oops, leading to denial of service.
- 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-2023-54118?
CVE-2023-54118 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:
serial: sc16is7xx: setup GPIO controller later in probe
The GPIO controller component of the sc16is7xx driver is setup too early, which can result in a race condition where another device tries to utilise the GPIO lines before the sc16is7xx device has finished initialising.
This issue manifests itself as an Oops when the GPIO lines are configured:
Unable to handle kernel read from unreadable memory at virtual address ... pc : sc16is7xx_gpio_direction_output+0x68/0x108 [sc16is7xx] lr : sc16is7xx_gpio_direction_output+0x4c/0x108 [sc16is7xx] ... Call trace: sc16is7xx_gpio_direction_output+0x68/0x108 [sc16is7xx] gpiod_direction_output_raw_commit+0x64/0x318 gpiod_direction_output+0xb0/0x170 create_gpio_led+0xec/0x198 gpio_led_probe+0x16c/0x4f0 platform_drv_probe+0x5c/0xb0 really_probe+0xe8/0x448 driver_probe_device+0xe8/0x138 __device_attach_driver+0x94/0x118 bus_for_each_drv+0x8c/0xe0 __device_attach+0x100/0x1b8 device_initial_probe+0x28/0x38 bus_probe_device+0xa4/0xb0 deferred_probe_work_func+0x90/0xe0 process_one_work+0x1c4/0x480 worker_thread+0x54/0x430 kthread+0x138/0x150 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x1c
This patch moves the setup of the GPIO controller functions to later in the probe function, ensuring the sc16is7xx device has already finished initialising by the time other devices try to make use of the GPIO lines. The error handling has also been reordered to reflect the new initialisation order.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54118?
How do I fix CVE-2023-54118?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2023-54118 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54118 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-54118, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54118, GHSA-c243-ghfx-233w, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54118.