CVE-2023-53572 (GCVE-0-2023-53572)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2025-10-04 15:17
Modified
2026-08-05 09:14
Severity ?
7.0 (High) - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: clk: imx: scu: use _safe list iterator to avoid a use after free This loop is freeing "clk" so it needs to use list_for_each_entry_safe(). Otherwise it dereferences a freed variable to get the next item on the loop.
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: 77d8f3068c63ee0983f0b5ba3207d3f7cce11be4
Version: 77d8f3068c63ee0983f0b5ba3207d3f7cce11be4
Version: 77d8f3068c63ee0983f0b5ba3207d3f7cce11be4
Version: 77d8f3068c63ee0983f0b5ba3207d3f7cce11be4
Version: 77d8f3068c63ee0983f0b5ba3207d3f7cce11be4
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/clk/imx/clk-scu.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
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              "lessThan": "f95ff838ac39f861d1f95a0f3bbb1e01c2517d79",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "77d8f3068c63ee0983f0b5ba3207d3f7cce11be4",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
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              "status": "affected",
              "version": "77d8f3068c63ee0983f0b5ba3207d3f7cce11be4",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "3d90921f91fc6a8c801d527bb5848c99e335c1cf",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "77d8f3068c63ee0983f0b5ba3207d3f7cce11be4",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "0a719f0e4b6f233979e219baff73923e76a96e09",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "77d8f3068c63ee0983f0b5ba3207d3f7cce11be4",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "632c60ecd25dbacee54d5581fe3aeb834b57010a",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "77d8f3068c63ee0983f0b5ba3207d3f7cce11be4",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/clk/imx/clk-scu.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5.11"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "5.11",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "5.15.121",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.1.39",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.3.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.3.13",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.4.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.4.4",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.5",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "5.15.121",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "5.11",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.1.39",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "5.11",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.3.13",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "5.11",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.4.4",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "5.11",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.5",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "5.11",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nclk: imx: scu: use _safe list iterator to avoid a use after free\n\nThis loop is freeing \"clk\" so it needs to use list_for_each_entry_safe().\nOtherwise it dereferences a freed variable to get the next item on the\nloop."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 7,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "AV:L - The defect is in the i.MX8QXP/QM/DXL SCU platform clock-provider probe path (`imx8qxp_clk_probe()` \u2192 `imx_clk_scu_unregister()`), entered only through the local OF/device-driver model; no network, adjacent-network, or remote-peer data reaches a clock registration routine, and even the hypothetical re-entry routes (module load, DT overlay) require local system access.\nAC:H - The error branch is only taken when `of_clk_add_hw_provider()` fails, which after ruling out `of_clk_set_defaults()` (no in-tree i.MX8 SCU DT node carries `assigned-clocks`/`assigned-clock-rates`) reduces to a ~40-byte GFP_KERNEL `kzalloc()` failing during boot-time probe \u2014 small GFP_KERNEL allocations retry and OOM-kill rather than fail, and an attacker cannot induce memory pressure inside the boot-time probe window, so the precondition is genuinely outside attacker control.\nPR:L - There is no capability check anywhere along the path itself and the memory-pressure condition that would provoke the allocation failure needs no privilege at all; although the only explicit re-probe triggers (module load, DTB/overlay) are root-gated and `suppress_bind_attrs = true` removes the sysfs bind route, the uncertainty is resolved toward the lower privilege bar rather than PR:H.\nUI:N - The use-after-free fires automatically inside the driver\u0027s own probe error unwind; no administrator or victim must mount a filesystem, open a device, or take any other action for the freed-list walk to execute.\nS:U - The freed slab object, the wild pointer dereference, and the resulting corruption are all confined to kernel heap and the clk framework\u0027s own bookkeeping within a single security authority; no VM, container, IOMMU, or sandbox boundary is crossed.\nC:H - This is a genuine use-after-free read: `clk-\u003enode.next` is read from a kmalloc-64 object already returned to the allocator with no lock held, so a concurrently reallocated occupant\u0027s contents are consumed as a list pointer and its `clk-\u003ehw` field is dereferenced by `clk_unregister()`, which additionally prints `clk-\u003ecore-\u003ename` from that wild pointer to dmesg via `pr_err`/`pr_warn` \u2014 per kernel UAF treatment this warrants High.\nI:H - Once the loop follows a stale or reallocated `next` pointer, `clk_hw_unregister()` \u2192 `clk_unregister()` performs out-of-lifetime writes through it (`clk-\u003ecore-\u003eops = \u0026clk_nodrv_ops`, `hlist_del_init()`, `kref_put()`), and the loop body then `kfree()`s that attacker-influenceable address \u2014 an arbitrary-free plus wild-write primitive suitable for control-flow-relevant heap corruption.\nA:H - With `init_on_free` the freed `node.next` reads back as NULL and with SLUB poisoning as 0x6b6b..., either way oopsing immediately, and a reallocated object yields wild-pointer dereferences and freelist corruption during boot \u2014 on the embedded/automotive i.MX8QXP/QM boards this driver targets, commonly booted with panic_on_oops, that leaves the board unbootable."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T09:14:54.320Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f95ff838ac39f861d1f95a0f3bbb1e01c2517d79"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/08cc7cd2c2a29a2abf5bceb8f048c0734d3694ba"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d90921f91fc6a8c801d527bb5848c99e335c1cf"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a719f0e4b6f233979e219baff73923e76a96e09"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/632c60ecd25dbacee54d5581fe3aeb834b57010a"
        }
      ],
      "title": "clk: imx: scu: use _safe list iterator to avoid a use after free",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2023-53572",
    "datePublished": "2025-10-04T15:17:13.089Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-10-04T15:14:15.925Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T09:14:54.320Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}


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