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NVD / CVE Program· CNA Linux

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

—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 0/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.19% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Fixed version: Linux Linux 066fbd8bc981cf49923bf828b7b4092894df577f, 70a2856fd1d0a040c876ba9e3f89b949ae92e4dd, e0322a255a2242dbe4686b6176b3c83dea490529.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Linux Linux 066fbd8bc981cf49923bf828b7b4092894df577f, 70a2856fd1d0a040c876ba9e3f89b949ae92e4dd, e0322a255a2242dbe4686b6176b3c83dea490529 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

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.

Published
Dec 30, 2025
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 8th percentile
CWE
—

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JSON

Action score

0

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
0 / 40 · —
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

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Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Linux). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Linux Linux

    • 5.9affected
    • 653ed64b01dc5989f8f579d0038e987476c2c023 and later · before 066fbd8bc981cf49923bf828b7b4092894df577faffected · git
    • 653ed64b01dc5989f8f579d0038e987476c2c023 and later · before ec9d118ad99dc6f1bc674c1e649c25533d89b9baaffected · git
    • 653ed64b01dc5989f8f579d0038e987476c2c023 and later · before e0322a255a2242dbe4686b6176b3c83dea490529affected · git
    • 653ed64b01dc5989f8f579d0038e987476c2c023 and later · before e5de968a9032366198720eac4f368ed7e690b3efaffected · git
    • 653ed64b01dc5989f8f579d0038e987476c2c023 and later · before 70a2856fd1d0a040c876ba9e3f89b949ae92e4ddaffected · git
    • 653ed64b01dc5989f8f579d0038e987476c2c023 and later · before f5063e8948dad7f31adb007284a5d5038ae31bb8affected · git
    • before 5.9not affected · semver
    • 5.10.195 and later · up to and including 5.10.*not affected · semver
    • 5.15.132 and later · up to and including 5.15.*not affected · semver

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12linuxbefore 6.1.55-16.1.55-1
Debian:13linuxbefore 6.5.3-16.5.3-1

Same product

linux: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-74705udp: fix potential use-after-free in tunnel segmentation
    40Plan
  • CVE-2026-74612veth: fix skb length accounting after XDP frag adjustment
    40Plan
  • CVE-2026-74475vxlan: use neigh_ha_snapshot() in route_shortcircuit()
    40Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2023-54314Dec 30, 2025 · media: af9005: Fix null-ptr-deref in af9005_i2c_xfer
    0Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2023-54315Dec 30, 2025 · powerpc/powernv/sriov: perform null check on iov before dereferencing iov
    0Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2023-54319Dec 30, 2025 · pinctrl: at91-pio4: check return value of devm_kasprintf()
    0Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Linux Linux066fbd8bc981cf49923bf828b7b4092894df577fVendor (CNA)
Linux Linux70a2856fd1d0a040c876ba9e3f89b949ae92e4ddVendor (CNA)
Linux Linuxe0322a255a2242dbe4686b6176b3c83dea490529Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linuxe5de968a9032366198720eac4f368ed7e690b3efVendor (CNA)
Linux Linuxec9d118ad99dc6f1bc674c1e649c25533d89b9baVendor (CNA)
Linux Linuxf5063e8948dad7f31adb007284a5d5038ae31bb8Vendor (CNA)
debian:linux6.1.55-1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

No CVSS vector for this record, so attack conditions can't be derived.

Weakness class (CWE)

—

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

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References

Show all references (5 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

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