# CVE-2023-54167: m68k: mm: Move initrd phys_to_virt handling after paging_init()

> A kernel crash occurs when booting with an initial ramdisk on specific m68k platforms due to premature memory address translation.

- **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:** 30 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54167, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54167, GHSA-m7mj-mw9m-293g, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54167

## What is CVE-2023-54167?

CVE-2023-54167 is a 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:

m68k: mm: Move initrd phys_to_virt handling after paging_init()

When booting with an initial ramdisk on platforms where physical memory
does not start at address zero (e.g. on Amiga):

    initrd: 0ef0602c - 0f800000
    Zone ranges:
      DMA      [mem 0x0000000008000000-0x000000f7ffffffff]
      Normal   empty
    Movable zone start for each node
    Early memory node ranges
      node   0: [mem 0x0000000008000000-0x000000000f7fffff]
    Initmem setup node 0 [mem 0x0000000008000000-0x000000000f7fffff]
    Unable to handle kernel access at virtual address (ptrval)
    Oops: 00000000
    Modules linked in:
    PC: [<00201d3c>] memcmp+0x28/0x56

As phys_to_virt() relies on m68k_memoffset and module_fixup(), it must
not be called before paging_init().  Hence postpone the phys_to_virt
handling for the initial ramdisk until after calling paging_init().

While at it, reduce #ifdef clutter by using IS_ENABLED() instead.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54167?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54167?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54167 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54167 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54167 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54167 is a 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-2023-54167 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-2023-54167/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54167/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54167
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54167
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54167

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54167/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.