CVE-2023-54160

Local service interruption via SDEI CPU hotplug

Published Dec 24, 2025 · Updated Dec 24, 2025

Denial of service in the Linux arm_sdei firmware driver allows local users to interrupt PREEMPT_RT systems during CPU hotplug. The sdei_cpuhp_up callback runs in the STARTING hotplug stage with interrupts disabled and then enters rt_spin_lock, causing an invalid-context sleep BUG. Exposure requires privileged CPU-hotplug activity on an ARM system using SDEI and PREEMPT_RT; the published reproduction used an Ampere Altra, and the impact is limited to availability.

CVSS severity4.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in the Linux arm_sdei firmware driver allows local users to interrupt PREEMPT_RT systems during CPU hotplug. The sdei_cpuhp_up callback runs in the STARTING hotplug stage with interrupts disabled and then enters rt_spin_lock, causing an invalid-context sleep BUG. Exposure requires privileged CPU-hotplug activity on an ARM system using SDEI and PREEMPT_RT; the published reproduction used an Ampere Altra, and the impact is limited to availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-54160
Published
Dec 24, 2025
Updated
Dec 24, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 24, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 24, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <18d5ea5b746120a3972e6c347ad9428228445327
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <48ac727ea4a3577eb1b4e24f807ba532c47930f9
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <59842a9ba27d5390ae5bf3233a92cad3a26d495c
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <66caf22787714c925e755719c293aaf3cb0b873b
  5. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7d8f5ccc826b39e05ff252b1fccd808c7a0725e0
  6. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a8267bc8de736cae927165191b52fbc20d101dd1
  7. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d2c48b2387eb89e0bf2a2e06e30987cf410acad4

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <18d5ea5b746120a3972e6c347ad9428228445327; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <48ac727ea4a3577eb1b4e24f807ba532c47930f9; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <59842a9ba27d5390ae5bf3233a92cad3a26d495c; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <66caf22787714c925e755719c293aaf3cb0b873b; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7d8f5ccc826b39e05ff252b1fccd808c7a0725e0; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a8267bc8de736cae927165191b52fbc20d101dd1; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d2c48b2387eb89e0bf2a2e06e30987cf410acad4

Published CVSS scores

4.4Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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