CVE-2023-53531

MEDIUMNVD 5.55.5—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 5.5 from GitHub Security Advisory published 2025-10-01. NVD baseline CVSS 5.5; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
5.5EG
EchelonGraph verdictMonitorLow exploitation likelihood right now — keep watching.
  • Lower severity and no public exploit yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0%CVSS: 5.5Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

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

null_blk: fix poll request timeout handling

When doing io_uring benchmark on /dev/nullb0, it's easy to crash the kernel if poll requests timeout triggered, as reported by David. [1]

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008 Workqueue: kblockd blk_mq_timeout_work RIP: 0010:null_timeout_rq+0x4e/0x91 Call Trace: ? null_timeout_rq+0x4e/0x91 blk_mq_handle_expired+0x31/0x4b bt_iter+0x68/0x84 ? bt_tags_iter+0x81/0x81 __sbitmap_for_each_set.constprop.0+0xb0/0xf2 ? __blk_mq_complete_request_remote+0xf/0xf bt_for_each+0x46/0x64 ? __blk_mq_complete_request_remote+0xf/0xf ? percpu_ref_get_many+0xc/0x2a blk_mq_queue_tag_busy_iter+0x14d/0x18e blk_mq_timeout_work+0x95/0x127 process_one_work+0x185/0x263 worker_thread+0x1b5/0x227

This is indeed a race problem between null_timeout_rq() and null_poll().

null_poll() null_timeout_rq() spin_lock(&nq->poll_lock) list_splice_init(&nq->poll_list, &list) spin_unlock(&nq->poll_lock)

while (!list_empty(&list)) req = list_first_entry() list_del_init() ... blk_mq_add_to_batch() // req->rq_next = NULL spin_lock(&nq->poll_lock)

// rq->queuelist->next == NULL list_del_init(&rq->queuelist)

spin_unlock(&nq->poll_lock)

Fix these problems by setting requests state to MQ_RQ_COMPLETE under nq->poll_lock protection, in which null_timeout_rq() can safely detect this race and early return.

Note this patch just fix the kernel panic when request timeout happen.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/

CVSS v3
5.5
EG Score
5.5(medium)
EG Risk
29(Track)
EG Risk 29/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity55% × 45%
Exploitation0% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
0%
EPSS %ILE
5%
KEV
Not listed

Published

October 1, 2025

Last Modified

August 5, 2026

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated Aug 5, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

null_blk: fix poll request timeout handling - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5a26e45edb4690d58406178b5a9ea4c6dcf2c105
generic

null_blk: fix poll request timeout handling - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a7cb2e709f2927cc3c76781df3e45de2381b3b9d
generic

null_blk: fix poll request timeout handling - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a0b4a0666beacfe8add9c71d8922475541dbae73

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2023-53531(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
redhatkernel-0:5.14.0-503.11.1.el9_52024-11-12redhat
linuxKernel @ 6.1.54—osv

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Affected Packages

(3 across 3 ecosystems)
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
linux6.1.27-1 ... 6.1.55-1~bpo11+1 (10 versions)6.1.55-1—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
linux—6.5.6-1—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
linux—6.5.6-1—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 7× in last 7d / 29× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 155 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-09-18 19:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-09-16 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-09-16 05:11 UTCEPSS rescore
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  10. 2026-09-08 21:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-09-07 15:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-09-07 06:18 UTCOSV refresh
  13. 2026-09-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-09-05 15:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-09-04 13:58 UTCEPSS rescore
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  1. 2026-08-23 00:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-08-21 23:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-20 22:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-08-20 16:01 UTCOSV refresh
  5. 2026-08-19 17:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-08-18 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-08-16 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-08-16 02:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-08-15 01:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-08-13 21:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-08-12 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
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  17. 2026-08-05 19:15 UTCEPSS rescore
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  19. 2026-08-05 10:18 UTCEG score recompute
  20. 2026-08-05 10:18 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-08-05 10:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-08-04 10:57 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-08-04 10:57 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-08-04 10:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-08-04 10:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-08-04 09:30 UTCEG score recompute
  27. 2026-08-04 09:30 UTCVendor advisory
  28. 2026-08-04 09:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-08-03 10:34 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-08-02 02:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-08-02 02:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-08-01 04:14 UTCEPSS rescore
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  35. 2026-07-28 15:34 UTCEPSS rescore
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  37. 2026-07-26 14:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-07-25 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-07-24 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-07-23 18:41 UTCOSV refresh
  41. 2026-07-23 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-07-23 02:29 UTCEG score recompute
  43. 2026-07-22 23:16 UTCEG score recompute
  44. 2026-07-22 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-07-22 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-07-21 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-07-20 17:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-07-19 14:30 UTCEPSS rescore
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  50. 2026-07-19 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
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  54. 2026-07-16 17:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-07-15 16:56 UTCEPSS rescore
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  66. 2026-07-06 16:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-07-06 16:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  68. 2026-07-06 13:11 UTCOSV refresh
  69. 2026-07-06 02:22 UTCEPSS rescore
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  73. 2026-07-01 15:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  74. 2026-06-30 23:21 UTCEPSS rescore
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Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2023-53531?
CVE-2023-53531 is a medium vulnerability published on October 1, 2025. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: null_blk: fix poll request timeout handling When doing io_uring benchmark on /dev/nullb0, it's easy to crash the kernel if poll requests timeout triggered, as reported by David. [1] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address:…
When was CVE-2023-53531 disclosed?
CVE-2023-53531 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on October 1, 2025, with the most recent update on August 5, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2023-53531 actively exploited?
CVE-2023-53531 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 95.3% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-53531?
CVE-2023-53531 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.5 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2023-53531?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2023-53531, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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