# CVE-2023-54316: refscale: Fix uninitalized use of wait_queue_head_t

> A race condition in the Linux kernel refscale module causes a null pointer dereference, leading to a kernel crash and 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:** 30 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54316, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54316, GHSA-2fjh-g9hr-2x3g, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54316

## What is CVE-2023-54316?

CVE-2023-54316 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:

refscale: Fix uninitalized use of wait_queue_head_t

Running the refscale test occasionally crashes the kernel with the
following error:

[ 8569.952896] BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffffffffffffe8
[ 8569.952900] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
[ 8569.952902] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
[ 8569.952904] PGD c4b048067 P4D c4b049067 PUD c4b04b067 PMD 0
[ 8569.952910] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT_RT SMP NOPTI
[ 8569.952916] Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R750/0WMWCR, BIOS 1.2.4 05/28/2021
[ 8569.952917] RIP: 0010:prepare_to_wait_event+0x101/0x190
  :
[ 8569.952940] Call Trace:
[ 8569.952941]  <TASK>
[ 8569.952944]  ref_scale_reader+0x380/0x4a0 [refscale]
[ 8569.952959]  kthread+0x10e/0x130
[ 8569.952966]  ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30
[ 8569.952973]  </TASK>

The likely cause is that init_waitqueue_head() is called after the call to
the torture_create_kthread() function that creates the ref_scale_reader
kthread.  Although this init_waitqueue_head() call will very likely
complete before this kthread is created and starts running, it is
possible that the calling kthread will be delayed between the calls to
torture_create_kthread() and init_waitqueue_head().  In this case, the
new kthread will use the waitqueue head before it is properly initialized,
which is not good for the kernel's health and well-being.

The above crash happened here:

	static inline void __add_wait_queue(...)
	{
		:
		if (!(wq->flags & WQ_FLAG_PRIORITY)) <=== Crash here

The offset of flags from list_head entry in wait_queue_entry is
-0x18. If reader_tasks[i].wq.head.next is NULL as allocated reader_task
structure is zero initialized, the instruction will try to access address
0xffffffffffffffe8, which is exactly the fault address listed above.

This commit therefore invokes init_waitqueue_head() before creating
the kthread.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54316?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54316?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54316 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54316 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54316 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54316 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-2023-54316 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-2023-54316/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54316/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54316
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54316
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54316

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54316/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.