CVE-2023-54015 in Linux
Summary
by MITRE • 12/24/2025
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net/mlx5: Devcom, fix error flow in mlx5_devcom_register_device
In case devcom allocation is failed, mlx5 is always freeing the priv. However, this priv might have been allocated by a different thread, and freeing it might lead to use-after-free bugs. Fix it by freeing the priv only in case it was allocated by the running thread.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/26/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-54015 resides within the Linux kernel's mlx5 driver, specifically in the devcom component responsible for device management. This issue affects Mellanox ConnectX network adapters and represents a critical race condition that can lead to memory corruption and potential system instability. The flaw manifests in the mlx5_devcom_register_device function where improper handling of memory allocation and deallocation creates opportunities for use-after-free conditions that adversaries could potentially exploit to compromise system integrity.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper synchronization mechanisms within the device communication framework of the mlx5 driver. When device communication allocation fails during the registration process, the driver attempts to free the private data structure regardless of which thread originally allocated it. This design flaw creates a race condition scenario where multiple threads may simultaneously access or modify the same memory location, leading to unpredictable behavior when one thread frees memory that another thread is still using. The vulnerability specifically impacts the mlx5_devcom_register_device function which manages device communication registration and cleanup operations.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-54015 extends beyond simple memory corruption, as it represents a potential pathway for privilege escalation and system compromise. Attackers could exploit this vulnerability by triggering the specific error flow conditions that cause the race condition, potentially leading to use-after-free scenarios that might be leveraged for arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability affects systems running Linux kernels with Mellanox ConnectX network adapters, particularly those utilizing the mlx5 driver for high-performance networking operations. This creates risks for enterprise environments, cloud infrastructure, and any system relying on Mellanox hardware for network connectivity.
This vulnerability maps to CWE-416, which describes the use of freed memory condition, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter, as exploitation could enable attackers to execute malicious code through compromised network services. The fix implemented addresses the core synchronization issue by ensuring that private memory structures are only freed by the thread that originally allocated them, thereby preventing cross-thread memory corruption. This mitigation strategy follows established best practices for concurrent programming and memory management in kernel space, aligning with the principle of least privilege and proper resource management as outlined in secure coding standards. The resolution effectively eliminates the race condition by introducing proper thread-local memory management, preventing the scenario where one thread frees memory allocated by another thread, thus maintaining system stability and security integrity across multi-threaded environments.