# CVE-2023-54160: firmware: arm_sdei: Fix sleep from invalid context BUG

> A bug in the Linux kernel SDEI driver causes a system crash when running a preempt-rt kernel, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54160, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54160, GHSA-jfm8-wf93-6c4c, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54160

## What is CVE-2023-54160?

CVE-2023-54160 is a denial of service 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:

firmware: arm_sdei: Fix sleep from invalid context BUG

Running a preempt-rt (v6.2-rc3-rt1) based kernel on an Ampere Altra
triggers:

  BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/locking/spinlock_rt.c:46
  in_atomic(): 0, irqs_disabled(): 128, non_block: 0, pid: 24, name: cpuhp/0
  preempt_count: 0, expected: 0
  RCU nest depth: 0, expected: 0
  3 locks held by cpuhp/0/24:
    #0: ffffda30217c70d0 (cpu_hotplug_lock){++++}-{0:0}, at: cpuhp_thread_fun+0x5c/0x248
    #1: ffffda30217c7120 (cpuhp_state-up){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: cpuhp_thread_fun+0x5c/0x248
    #2: ffffda3021c711f0 (sdei_list_lock){....}-{3:3}, at: sdei_cpuhp_up+0x3c/0x130
  irq event stamp: 36
  hardirqs last  enabled at (35): [<ffffda301e85b7bc>] finish_task_switch+0xb4/0x2b0
  hardirqs last disabled at (36): [<ffffda301e812fec>] cpuhp_thread_fun+0x21c/0x248
  softirqs last  enabled at (0): [<ffffda301e80b184>] copy_process+0x63c/0x1ac0
  softirqs last disabled at (0): [<0000000000000000>] 0x0
  CPU: 0 PID: 24 Comm: cpuhp/0 Not tainted 5.19.0-rc3-rt5-[...]
  Hardware name: WIWYNN Mt.Jade Server [...]
  Call trace:
    dump_backtrace+0x114/0x120
    show_stack+0x20/0x70
    dump_stack_lvl+0x9c/0xd8
    dump_stack+0x18/0x34
    __might_resched+0x188/0x228
    rt_spin_lock+0x70/0x120
    sdei_cpuhp_up+0x3c/0x130
    cpuhp_invoke_callback+0x250/0xf08
    cpuhp_thread_fun+0x120/0x248
    smpboot_thread_fn+0x280/0x320
    kthread+0x130/0x140
    ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20

sdei_cpuhp_up() is called in the STARTING hotplug section,
which runs with interrupts disabled. Use a CPUHP_AP_ONLINE_DYN entry
instead to execute the cpuhp cb later, with preemption enabled.

SDEI originally got its own cpuhp slot to allow interacting
with perf. It got superseded by pNMI and this early slot is not
relevant anymore. [1]

Some SDEI calls (e.g. SDEI_1_0_FN_SDEI_PE_MASK) take actions on the
calling CPU. It is checked that preemption is disabled for them.
_ONLINE cpuhp cb are executed in the 'per CPU hotplug thread'.
Preemption is enabled in those threads, but their cpumask is limited
to 1 CPU.
Move 'WARN_ON_ONCE(preemptible())' statements so that SDEI cpuhp cb
don't trigger them.

Also add a check for the SDEI_1_0_FN_SDEI_PRIVATE_RESET SDEI call
which acts on the calling CPU.

[1]:
https://lore.kernel.org/all/5813b8c5-ae3e-87fd-fccc-94c9cd08816d@arm.com/

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54160?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54160?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54160 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54160 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54160 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54160 is a denial of service 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-2023-54160 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-2023-54160/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54160/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54160
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54160
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54160

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54160/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.