CVE-2023-53455
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided
BaseFortify

Publication date: 2025-10-01

Last updated on: 2025-10-02

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/vc4: drop all currently held locks if deadlock happens If vc4_hdmi_reset_link() returns -EDEADLK, it means that a deadlock happened in the locking context. This situation should be addressed by dropping all currently held locks and block until the contended lock becomes available. Currently, vc4 is not dealing with the deadlock properly, producing the following output when PROVE_LOCKING is enabled: [ 825.612809] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 825.612852] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 116 at drivers/gpu/drm/drm_modeset_lock.c:276 drm_modeset_drop_locks+0x60/0x68 [drm] [ 825.613458] Modules linked in: 8021q mrp garp stp llc raspberrypi_cpufreq brcmfmac brcmutil crct10dif_ce hci_uart cfg80211 btqca btbcm bluetooth vc4 raspberrypi_hwmon snd_soc_hdmi_codec cec clk_raspberrypi ecdh_generic drm_display_helper ecc rfkill drm_dma_helper drm_kms_helper pwm_bcm2835 bcm2835_thermal bcm2835_rng rng_core i2c_bcm2835 drm fuse ip_tables x_tables ipv6 [ 825.613735] CPU: 1 PID: 116 Comm: kworker/1:2 Tainted: G W 6.1.0-rc6-01399-g941aae326315 #3 [ 825.613759] Hardware name: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Rev 1.2 (DT) [ 825.613777] Workqueue: events output_poll_execute [drm_kms_helper] [ 825.614038] pstate: 60000005 (nZCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 825.614063] pc : drm_modeset_drop_locks+0x60/0x68 [drm] [ 825.614603] lr : drm_helper_probe_detect+0x120/0x1b4 [drm_kms_helper] [ 825.614829] sp : ffff800008313bf0 [ 825.614844] x29: ffff800008313bf0 x28: ffffcd7778b8b000 x27: 0000000000000000 [ 825.614883] x26: 0000000000000001 x25: 0000000000000001 x24: ffff677cc35c2758 [ 825.614920] x23: ffffcd7707d01430 x22: ffffcd7707c3edc7 x21: 0000000000000001 [ 825.614958] x20: 0000000000000000 x19: ffff800008313c10 x18: 000000000000b6d3 [ 825.614995] x17: ffffcd777835e214 x16: ffffcd7777cef870 x15: fffff81000000000 [ 825.615033] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000099 x12: 0000000000000002 [ 825.615070] x11: 72917988020af800 x10: 72917988020af800 x9 : 72917988020af800 [ 825.615108] x8 : ffff677cc665e0a8 x7 : d00a8c180000110c x6 : ffffcd77774c0054 [ 825.615145] x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 : 0000000000000000 [ 825.615181] x2 : ffff677cc55e1880 x1 : ffffcd7777cef8ec x0 : ffff800008313c10 [ 825.615219] Call trace: [ 825.615232] drm_modeset_drop_locks+0x60/0x68 [drm] [ 825.615773] drm_helper_probe_detect+0x120/0x1b4 [drm_kms_helper] [ 825.616003] output_poll_execute+0xe4/0x224 [drm_kms_helper] [ 825.616233] process_one_work+0x2b4/0x618 [ 825.616264] worker_thread+0x24c/0x464 [ 825.616288] kthread+0xec/0x110 [ 825.616310] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 [ 825.616335] irq event stamp: 7634 [ 825.616349] hardirqs last enabled at (7633): [<ffffcd777831ee90>] _raw_spin_unlock_irq+0x3c/0x78 [ 825.616384] hardirqs last disabled at (7634): [<ffffcd7778315a78>] __schedule+0x134/0x9f0 [ 825.616411] softirqs last enabled at (7630): [<ffffcd7707aacea0>] local_bh_enable+0x4/0x30 [ipv6] [ 825.617019] softirqs last disabled at (7618): [<ffffcd7707aace70>] local_bh_disable+0x4/0x30 [ipv6] [ 825.617586] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Therefore, deal with the deadlock as suggested by [1], using the function drm_modeset_backoff(). [1] https://docs.kernel.org/gpu/drm-kms.html?highlight=kms#kms-locking
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Meta Information
Published
2025-10-01
Last Modified
2025-10-02
Generated
2026-05-06
AI Q&A
2025-10-01
EPSS Evaluated
2026-05-05
NVD
CVE-2023-53455
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel From 5.15.160 (inc) to 5.16 (inc)
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?

This vulnerability occurs in the Linux kernel's vc4 driver where a deadlock situation is not properly handled. When the function vc4_hdmi_reset_link() detects a deadlock (returns -EDEADLK), the driver should drop all currently held locks and wait until the contended lock becomes available. However, the vc4 driver was not handling this correctly, leading to warnings and potential system instability. The fix involves properly dealing with the deadlock by dropping locks using the drm_modeset_backoff() function.


How can this vulnerability impact me? :

This vulnerability can cause the system to experience deadlocks in the graphics driver, potentially leading to warnings, system instability, or crashes related to GPU operations. It may affect the reliability of the display subsystem on affected devices, such as Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, causing disruptions in graphics output or system responsiveness.


How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?

This vulnerability can be detected by monitoring the system kernel logs for specific deadlock warnings related to drm_modeset_drop_locks. You can check the kernel log for messages containing 'WARNING' and 'drm_modeset_drop_locks' using the command: dmesg | grep drm_modeset_drop_locks. Enabling PROVE_LOCKING in the kernel can help produce these warnings when the deadlock occurs.


What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?

To mitigate this vulnerability, update the Linux kernel to a version where the drm/vc4 deadlock handling is fixed. The fix involves properly dropping all currently held locks when a deadlock is detected by using the drm_modeset_backoff() function as suggested in the kernel documentation. Until the update is applied, monitoring for deadlock warnings and avoiding workloads that trigger the vc4_hdmi_reset_link() deadlock may reduce impact.


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