CVE-2023-54220
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BaseFortify

Publication date: 2025-12-30

Last updated on: 2025-12-31

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: serial: 8250: Fix oops for port->pm on uart_change_pm() Unloading a hardware specific 8250 driver can produce error "Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address" about ten seconds after unloading the driver. This happens on uart_hangup() calling uart_change_pm(). Turns out commit 04e82793f068 ("serial: 8250: Reinit port->pm on port specific driver unbind") was only a partial fix. If the hardware specific driver has initialized port->pm function, we need to clear port->pm too. Just reinitializing port->ops does not do this. Otherwise serial8250_pm() will call port->pm() instead of serial8250_do_pm().
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Meta Information
Published
2025-12-30
Last Modified
2025-12-31
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2025-12-30
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2023-54220
EUVD
EUVD-2023-60421
Affected Vendors & Products
Currently, no data is known.
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Exploitability
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN
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Executive Summary

This vulnerability occurs in the Linux kernel's 8250 serial driver. When unloading a hardware-specific 8250 driver, an error "Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address" can occur about ten seconds after unloading. This happens because uart_hangup() calls uart_change_pm(), and if the hardware-specific driver has initialized the port->pm function, it is not properly cleared. The partial fix only reinitialized port->ops but did not clear port->pm, causing serial8250_pm() to call the wrong function, leading to a kernel oops (crash).

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause the Linux kernel to crash (kernel oops) when unloading certain hardware-specific 8250 serial drivers. This can lead to system instability or downtime, potentially affecting the reliability of systems using these drivers.

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