CVE-2023-54164
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided
Race Condition and NULL Pointer Dereference in Linux Bluetooth ISO Socket Locking

Publication date: 2025-12-30

Last updated on: 2025-12-30

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Bluetooth: ISO: fix iso_conn related locking and validity issues sk->sk_state indicates whether iso_pi(sk)->conn is valid. Operations that check/update sk_state and access conn should hold lock_sock, otherwise they can race. The order of taking locks is hci_dev_lock > lock_sock > iso_conn_lock, which is how it is in connect/disconnect_cfm -> iso_conn_del -> iso_chan_del. Fix locking in iso_connect_cis/bis and sendmsg/recvmsg to take lock_sock around updating sk_state and conn. iso_conn_del must not occur during iso_connect_cis/bis, as it frees the iso_conn. Hold hdev->lock longer to prevent that. This should not reintroduce the issue fixed in commit 241f51931c35 ("Bluetooth: ISO: Avoid circular locking dependency"), since the we acquire locks in order. We retain the fix in iso_sock_connect to release lock_sock before iso_connect_* acquires hdev->lock. Similarly for commit 6a5ad251b7cd ("Bluetooth: ISO: Fix possible circular locking dependency"). We retain the fix in iso_conn_ready to not acquire iso_conn_lock before lock_sock. iso_conn_add shall return iso_conn with valid hcon. Make it so also when reusing an old CIS connection waiting for disconnect timeout (see __iso_sock_close where conn->hcon is set to NULL). Trace with iso_conn_del after iso_chan_add in iso_connect_cis: =============================================================== iso_sock_create:771: sock 00000000be9b69b7 iso_sock_init:693: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_bind:827: sk 000000004dff667e 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 type 1 iso_sock_setsockopt:1289: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_setsockopt:1289: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_setsockopt:1289: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_connect:875: sk 000000004dff667e iso_connect_cis:353: 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 -> 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da hci_get_route:1199: 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 -> 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da hci_conn_add:1005: hci0 dst 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da iso_conn_add:140: hcon 000000007b65d182 conn 00000000daf8625e __iso_chan_add:214: conn 00000000daf8625e iso_connect_cfm:1700: hcon 000000007b65d182 bdaddr 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da status 12 iso_conn_del:187: hcon 000000007b65d182 conn 00000000daf8625e, err 16 iso_sock_clear_timer:117: sock 000000004dff667e state 3 <Note: sk_state is BT_BOUND (3), so iso_connect_cis is still running at this point> iso_chan_del:153: sk 000000004dff667e, conn 00000000daf8625e, err 16 hci_conn_del:1151: hci0 hcon 000000007b65d182 handle 65535 hci_conn_unlink:1102: hci0: hcon 000000007b65d182 hci_chan_list_flush:2780: hcon 000000007b65d182 iso_sock_getsockopt:1376: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getsockopt:1376: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_shutdown:1434: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e, how 1 __iso_sock_close:632: sk 000000004dff667e state 5 socket 00000000be9b69b7 <Note: sk_state is BT_CONNECT (5), even though iso_chan_del sets BT_CLOSED (6). Only iso_connect_cis sets it to BT_CONNECT, so it must be that iso_chan_del occurred between iso_chan_add and end of iso_connect_cis.> BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 PGD 8000000006467067 P4D 8000000006467067 PUD 3f5f067 PMD 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.2-1.fc38 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:__iso_sock_close (net/bluetooth/iso.c:664) bluetooth =============================================================== Trace with iso_conn_del before iso_chan_add in iso_connect_cis: =============================================================== iso_connect_cis:356: 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 -> 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da ... iso_conn_add:140: hcon 0000000093bc551f conn 00000000768ae504 hci_dev_put:1487: hci0 orig refcnt 21 hci_event_packet:7607: hci0: e ---truncated---
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Meta Information
Published
2025-12-30
Last Modified
2025-12-30
Generated
2026-05-07
AI Q&A
2025-12-30
EPSS Evaluated
2026-05-05
NVD
CVE-2023-54164
EUVD
EUVD-2023-60477
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 2 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel *
linux kernel *
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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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 in the Linux kernel's Bluetooth ISO subsystem involves improper locking and validity checks related to iso_conn (ISO connection) objects. Specifically, operations that check or update the state of a socket (sk_state) and access the connection (conn) must hold a specific lock (lock_sock) to avoid race conditions. Failure to properly acquire and order locks (hci_dev_lock, lock_sock, iso_conn_lock) can lead to use-after-free or NULL pointer dereference issues, causing kernel crashes. The fix ensures correct locking order and holding locks longer to prevent the connection from being freed during critical operations.


How can this vulnerability impact me? :

This vulnerability can cause the Linux kernel to crash due to NULL pointer dereferences triggered by race conditions in Bluetooth ISO connection handling. Such crashes can lead to denial of service on affected systems, potentially disrupting Bluetooth communication and overall system stability.


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