# CVE-2023-54164: Bluetooth: ISO: fix iso_conn related locking and validity issues > A race condition in the Linux kernel Bluetooth ISO subsystem can lead to use-after-free errors, potentially causing system crashes or arbitrary code execution. - **Severity:** High 8.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`) - **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:** 30 Dec 2025 - **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54164, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54164, GHSA-7fc9-v6cv-523q, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54164 ## What is CVE-2023-54164? CVE-2023-54164 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 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: ISO: fix iso_conn related locking and validity issues sk->sk_state indicates whether iso_pi(sk)->conn is valid. Operations that check/update sk_state and access conn should hold lock_sock, otherwise they can race. The order of taking locks is hci_dev_lock > lock_sock > iso_conn_lock, which is how it is in connect/disconnect_cfm -> iso_conn_del -> iso_chan_del. Fix locking in iso_connect_cis/bis and sendmsg/recvmsg to take lock_sock around updating sk_state and conn. iso_conn_del must not occur during iso_connect_cis/bis, as it frees the iso_conn. Hold hdev->lock longer to prevent that. This should not reintroduce the issue fixed in commit 241f51931c35 ("Bluetooth: ISO: Avoid circular locking dependency"), since the we acquire locks in order. We retain the fix in iso_sock_connect to release lock_sock before iso_connect_* acquires hdev->lock. Similarly for commit 6a5ad251b7cd ("Bluetooth: ISO: Fix possible circular locking dependency"). We retain the fix in iso_conn_ready to not acquire iso_conn_lock before lock_sock. iso_conn_add shall return iso_conn with valid hcon. Make it so also when reusing an old CIS connection waiting for disconnect timeout (see __iso_sock_close where conn->hcon is set to NULL). Trace with iso_conn_del after iso_chan_add in iso_connect_cis: =============================================================== iso_sock_create:771: sock 00000000be9b69b7 iso_sock_init:693: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_bind:827: sk 000000004dff667e 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 type 1 iso_sock_setsockopt:1289: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_setsockopt:1289: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_setsockopt:1289: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_connect:875: sk 000000004dff667e iso_connect_cis:353: 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 -> 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da hci_get_route:1199: 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 -> 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da hci_conn_add:1005: hci0 dst 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da iso_conn_add:140: hcon 000000007b65d182 conn 00000000daf8625e __iso_chan_add:214: conn 00000000daf8625e iso_connect_cfm:1700: hcon 000000007b65d182 bdaddr 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da status 12 iso_conn_del:187: hcon 000000007b65d182 conn 00000000daf8625e, err 16 iso_sock_clear_timer:117: sock 000000004dff667e state 3 iso_chan_del:153: sk 000000004dff667e, conn 00000000daf8625e, err 16 hci_conn_del:1151: hci0 hcon 000000007b65d182 handle 65535 hci_conn_unlink:1102: hci0: hcon 000000007b65d182 hci_chan_list_flush:2780: hcon 000000007b65d182 iso_sock_getsockopt:1376: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getsockopt:1376: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_shutdown:1434: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e, how 1 __iso_sock_close:632: sk 000000004dff667e state 5 socket 00000000be9b69b7 BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 PGD 8000000006467067 P4D 8000000006467067 PUD 3f5f067 PMD 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.2-1.fc38 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:__iso_sock_close (net/bluetooth/iso.c:664) bluetooth =============================================================== Trace with iso_conn_del before iso_chan_add in iso_connect_cis: =============================================================== iso_connect_cis:356: 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 -> 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da ... iso_conn_add:140: hcon 0000000093bc551f conn 00000000768ae504 hci_dev_put:1487: hci0 orig refcnt 21 hci_event_packet:7607: hci0: e ---truncated--- ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54164? ## How do I fix CVE-2023-54164? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2023-54164 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54164 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54164 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2023-54164 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 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-2023-54164 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-2023-54164/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54164/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54164 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54164 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54164 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54164/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.