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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been...

Moderate severity Unreviewed Published Sep 16, 2025 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Dec 2, 2025

Package

No package listedSuggest a package

Affected versions

Unknown

Patched versions

Unknown

Description

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

drivers: staging: rtl8723bs: Fix locking in _rtw_join_timeout_handler()

Commit 041879b12ddb ("drivers: staging: rtl8192bs: Fix deadlock in
rtw_joinbss_event_prehandle()") besides fixing the deadlock also
modified rtw_join_timeout_handler() to use spin[un]lock_irq()
instead of spin_[un]lock_bh().

rtw_join_timeout_handler() calls rtw_do_join() which takes
pmlmepriv->scanned_queue.lock using spin
[un]lock_bh(). This
spin_unlock_bh() call re-enables softirqs which triggers an oops in
kernel/softirq.c: __local_bh_enable_ip() when it calls
lockdep_assert_irqs_enabled():

[ 244.506087] WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 0 at kernel/softirq.c:376 __local_bh_enable_ip+0xa6/0x100
...
[ 244.509022] Call Trace:
[ 244.509048]
[ 244.509100] _rtw_join_timeout_handler+0x134/0x170 [r8723bs]
[ 244.509468] ? __pfx__rtw_join_timeout_handler+0x10/0x10 [r8723bs]
[ 244.509772] ? __pfx__rtw_join_timeout_handler+0x10/0x10 [r8723bs]
[ 244.510076] call_timer_fn+0x95/0x2a0
[ 244.510200] __run_timers.part.0+0x1da/0x2d0

This oops is causd by the switch to spin_[un]lock_irq() which disables
the IRQs for the entire duration of _rtw_join_timeout_handler().

Disabling the IRQs is not necessary since all code taking this lock
runs from either user contexts or from softirqs, switch back to
spin_[un]lock_bh() to fix this.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Sep 16, 2025
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Sep 16, 2025
Last updated Dec 2, 2025

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(2nd percentile)

Weaknesses

Improper Locking

The product does not properly acquire or release a lock on a resource, leading to unexpected resource state changes and behaviors. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2023-53281

GHSA ID

GHSA-vjmw-vhp2-pcr2

Source code

No known source code

Dependabot alerts are not supported on this advisory because it does not have a package from a supported ecosystem with an affected and fixed version.

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