CVE-2023-54201

Kernel memory corruption via EFA teardown use-after-free

Published Dec 30, 2025 · Updated Dec 30, 2025

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel EFA RDMA driver allows local users to corrupt kernel memory by repeatedly destroying a failed QP. In drivers/infiniband/hw/efa/efa_verbs.c, QP and CQ teardown drops the mmap-entry reference before device destruction succeeds, so a retry reuses and frees an already released entry. Access requires the local RDMA uverbs device and a failing EFA admin queue; successful triggering can corrupt the slab allocator, crash the host, or enable kernel control-flow hijacking.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.15%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel EFA RDMA driver allows local users to corrupt kernel memory by repeatedly destroying a failed QP. In drivers/infiniband/hw/efa/efa_verbs.c, QP and CQ teardown drops the mmap-entry reference before device destruction succeeds, so a retry reuses and frees an already released entry. Access requires the local RDMA uverbs device and a failing EFA admin queue; successful triggering can corrupt the slab allocator, crash the host, or enable kernel control-flow hijacking.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-54201
Published
Dec 30, 2025
Updated
Dec 30, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 30, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 30, 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=5.7
  2. Affected versionversion=ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9 <24f9884971f9b34915b67baacf7350a3f6f19ea4
  3. Affected versionversion=ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9 <cf38960386f3cc4abf395e556af915e4babcafd2
  4. Affected versionversion=ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9 <dc202c57e9a1423aed528e4b8dc949509cd32191
  5. Affected versionversion=ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9 <e79db2f51a564fd4daa3e508b987df5e81c34b20

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.7; version=ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9 <24f9884971f9b34915b67baacf7350a3f6f19ea4; version=ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9 <cf38960386f3cc4abf395e556af915e4babcafd2; version=ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9 <dc202c57e9a1423aed528e4b8dc949509cd32191; version=ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9 <e79db2f51a564fd4daa3e508b987df5e81c34b20

Published CVSS scores

7.8LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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