# CVE-2023-54120: Bluetooth: Fix race condition in hidp_session_thread

> A race condition in the Linux kernel Bluetooth HIDP driver can cause a use-after-free, leading to a kernel panic and denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54120, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54120, GHSA-732j-jg49-j2pr, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54120

## What is CVE-2023-54120?

CVE-2023-54120 is a high-severity 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:

Bluetooth: Fix race condition in hidp_session_thread

There is a potential race condition in hidp_session_thread that may
lead to use-after-free. For instance, the timer is active while
hidp_del_timer is called in hidp_session_thread(). After hidp_session_put,
then 'session' will be freed, causing kernel panic when hidp_idle_timeout
is running.

The solution is to use del_timer_sync instead of del_timer.

Here is the call trace:

? hidp_session_probe+0x780/0x780
call_timer_fn+0x2d/0x1e0
__run_timers.part.0+0x569/0x940
hidp_session_probe+0x780/0x780
call_timer_fn+0x1e0/0x1e0
ktime_get+0x5c/0xf0
lapic_next_deadline+0x2c/0x40
clockevents_program_event+0x205/0x320
run_timer_softirq+0xa9/0x1b0
__do_softirq+0x1b9/0x641
__irq_exit_rcu+0xdc/0x190
irq_exit_rcu+0xe/0x20
sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0xa1/0xc0

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54120?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54120?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54120 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54120 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54120 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54120 is a high-severity 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-2023-54120 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-2023-54120/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54120/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54120
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54120
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54120

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54120/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.