CVE-2023-53123: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PCI: s390: Fix use-after-free of PCI resources with per-function hotplug On s390...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PCI: s390: Fix use-after-free of PCI resources with per-function hotplug On s390 PCI functions may be hotplugged individually even when they belong to a multi-function device. In particular on an SR-IOV device VFs may be removed and later re-added. In commit a50297cf8235 ("s390/pci: separate zbus creation from scanning") it was missed however that struct pci_bus and struct zpci_bus's resource list retained a reference to the PCI functions MMIO resources even though those resources are released and freed on hot-unplug. These stale resources may subsequently be claimed when the PCI function re-appears resulting in use-after-free. One idea of fixing this use-after-free in s390 specific code that was investigated was to simply keep resources around from the moment a PCI function first appeared until the whole virtual PCI bus created for a multi-function device disappears. The problem with this however is that due to the requirement of artificial MMIO addreesses (address cookies) extra logic is then needed to keep the address cookies compatible on re-plug. At the same time the MMIO resources semantically belong to the PCI function so tying their lifecycle to the function seems more logical. Instead a simpler approach is to remove the resources of an individually hot-unplugged PCI function from the PCI bus's resource list while keeping the resources of other PCI functions on the PCI bus untouched. This is done by introducing pci_bus_remove_resource() to remove an individual resource. Similarly the resource also needs to be removed from the struct zpci_bus's resource list. It turns out however, that there is really no need to add the MMIO resources to the struct zpci_bus's resource list at all and instead we can simply use the zpci_bar_struct's resource pointer directly.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

7.8/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Probability

0.15%

4.7th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-416

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions	Update
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.13, < 5.15.104	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.16, < 6.1.21	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.2.8	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	6.3	Rc1

References

Timeline

Published: May 2, 2025
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-53123?

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PCI: s390: Fix use-after-free of PCI resources with per-function hotplug On s390 PCI functions may be hotplugged individually even when they belong to a multi-function device. In particular on an SR-IOV device VFs may be removed and later re-added. In commit a50297cf8235 ("s390/pci: separate zbus creation from scanning") it was missed however that struct pci_bus and struct zpci_bus's resource list retained a reference to the PCI functions MMIO resources even though those resources are released and freed on hot-unplug. These stale resources may subsequently be claimed when the PCI function re-appears resulting in use-after-free. One idea of fixing this use-after-free in s390 specific code that was investigated was to simply keep resources around from the moment a PCI function first appeared until the whole virtual PCI bus created for a multi-function device disappears. The problem with this however is that due to the requirement of artificial MMIO addreesses (address cookies) extra logic is then needed to keep the address cookies compatible on re-plug. At the same time the MMIO resources semantically belong to the PCI function so tying their lifecycle to the function seems more logical. Instead a simpler approach is to remove the resources of an individually hot-unplugged PCI function from the PCI bus's resource list while keeping the resources of other PCI functions on the PCI bus untouched. This is done by introducing pci_bus_remove_resource() to remove an individual resource. Similarly the resource also needs to be removed from the struct zpci_bus's resource list. It turns out however, that there is really no need to add the MMIO resources to the struct zpci_bus's resource list at all and instead we can simply use the zpci_bar_struct's resource pointer directly.

How severe is CVE-2023-53123?

CVE-2023-53123 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10 (HIGH severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.15% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2023-53123?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.