CVE-2023-54201

Status: DeferredHigh (7.8)—

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

RDMA/efa: Fix wrong resources deallocation order

When trying to destroy QP or CQ, we first decrease the refcount and potentially free memory regions allocated for the object and then request the device to destroy the object. If the device fails, the object isn't fully destroyed so the user/IB core can try to destroy the object again which will lead to underflow when trying to decrease an already zeroed refcount.

Deallocate resources in reverse order of allocating them to safely free them.

CVSS

Version: 3.1
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Base score: 7.8

Exploitation probability (EPSS)

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.15%
Percentile among all scored CVEs: 4
Score date: 10/6/2026

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).

🎯 ATT&CK techniques

How this vulnerability is exploited and what the attacker gains, in MITRE ATT&CK terms.

ExploitationT1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalationprivilege escalation85 %
Primary impactT1499.004 Application or System Exploitationimpact75 %
Secondary impactT1578.003 Delete Cloud Instancedefense impairment60 %

Vulnerabilidad local (AV:L/PR:L) en kernel Linux con refcount underflow; permite denegación de servicio o escalada de privilegios desde contexto con permisos.

Inferred by our analysis agent from the official description, CVSS vector and CWE, and checked by a supervisor. May contain errors.

🛡️ ATT&CK mitigations that cover these techniques

User Account Management Threat Intelligence Program Filter Network Traffic Execution Prevention Audit Application Isolation and Sandboxing

Affected technologies (1)

⚠ AI-inferred from the description — NVD hasn't analyzed this CVE yet, these aren't verified CPEs.

Linux — Linux Kernel^AI

References

Raw JSON (NVD)

Show

{
  "id": "CVE-2023-54201",
  "cveTags": [],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "type": "Secondary",
        "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "cvssData": {
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "version": "3.1",
          "baseScore": 7.8,
          "attackVector": "LOCAL",
          "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH"
        },
        "impactScore": 5.9,
        "exploitabilityScore": 1.8
      }
    ]
  },
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9",
              "lessThan": "cf38960386f3cc4abf395e556af915e4babcafd2",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9",
              "lessThan": "e79db2f51a564fd4daa3e508b987df5e81c34b20",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9",
              "lessThan": "24f9884971f9b34915b67baacf7350a3f6f19ea4",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "ff6629f88c529b07d9704c656c64dae76910e3e9",
              "lessThan": "dc202c57e9a1423aed528e4b8dc949509cd32191",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ],
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/infiniband/hw/efa/efa_verbs.c"
          ],
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
        },
        {
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5.7"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "lessThan": "5.7",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.1.53",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.4.16",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.4.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.5.3",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.5.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.6",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*"
            }
          ],
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/infiniband/hw/efa/efa_verbs.c"
          ],
          "defaultStatus": "affected"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "published": "2025-12-30T13:16:08.210",
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/24f9884971f9b34915b67baacf7350a3f6f19ea4",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cf38960386f3cc4abf395e556af915e4babcafd2",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dc202c57e9a1423aed528e4b8dc949509cd32191",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e79db2f51a564fd4daa3e508b987df5e81c34b20",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    }
  ],
  "vulnStatus": "Deferred",
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nRDMA/efa: Fix wrong resources deallocation order\n\nWhen trying to destroy QP or CQ, we first decrease the refcount and\npotentially free memory regions allocated for the object and then\nrequest the device to destroy the object. If the device fails, the\nobject isn't fully destroyed so the user/IB core can try to destroy the\nobject again which will lead to underflow when trying to decrease an\nalready zeroed refcount.\n\nDeallocate resources in reverse order of allocating them to safely free\nthem."
    }
  ],
  "lastModified": "2026-08-04T11:16:36.377",
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}