CVE-2023-54225

EPSS 0.0%
  • Published: 2025-12-30T13:16:10.877

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: ipa: only reset hashed tables when supported

Last year, the code that manages GSI channel transactions switched
from using spinlock-protected linked lists to using indexes into the
ring buffer used for a channel. Recently, Google reported seeing
transaction reference count underflows occasionally during shutdown.

Doug Anderson found a way to reproduce the issue reliably, and
bisected the issue to the commit that eliminated the linked lists
and the lock. The root cause was ultimately determined to be
related to unused transactions being committed as part of the modem
shutdown cleanup activity. Unused transactions are not normally
expected (except in error cases).

The modem uses some ranges of IPA-resident memory, and whenever it
shuts down we zero those ranges. In ipa_filter_reset_table() a
transaction is allocated to zero modem filter table entries. If
hashing is not supported, hashed table memory should not be zeroed.
But currently nothing prevents that, and the result is an unused
transaction. Something similar occurs when we zero routing table
entries for the modem.

By preventing any attempt to clear hashed tables when hashing is not
supported, the reference count underflow is avoided in this case.

Note that there likely remains an issue with properly freeing unused
transactions (if they occur due to errors). This patch addresses
only the underflows that Google originally reported.

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

Top CVE for Vendor

No vendor taxonomy on this entry.

Recently Exploited Similar Vulnerabilities

No recent KEV-listed items for this vendor/product.

How to fix CVE-2023-54225

CVE-2023-54225 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ipa: only reset hashed tables when supported Last year, the code that manages GSI channel transactions switched from using spinlock-protected linked lists to using indexes into the ring buffer used for a channel. Recently, Google reported seeing transaction reference count underflows occasionally during shutdown. […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Dec 30, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Dec 30, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.