Linux Kernel up to 6.1.10 FCP core-cdev.c release_request use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.10. Impacted is the function release_request of the file drivers/firewire/core-cdev.c of the component FCP Handler. Such manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2023-52989. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.10. It has been rated as critical. Affected by this issue is the function release_request of the file drivers/firewire/core-cdev.c of the component FCP Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: firewire: fix memory leak for payload of request subaction to IEC 61883-1 FCP region This patch is fix for Linux kernel v2.6.33 or later. For request subaction to IEC 61883-1 FCP region, Linux FireWire subsystem have had an issue of use-after-free. The subsystem allows multiple user space listeners to the region, while data of the payload was likely released before the listeners execute read(2) to access to it for copying to user space. The issue was fixed by a commit 281e20323ab7 ("firewire: core: fix use-after-free regression in FCP handler"). The object of payload is duplicated in kernel space for each listener. When the listener executes ioctl(2) with FW_CDEV_IOC_SEND_RESPONSE request, the object is going to be released. However, it causes memory leak since the commit relies on call of release_request() in drivers/firewire/core-cdev.c. Against the expectation, the function is never called due to the design of release_client_resource(). The function delegates release task to caller when called with non-NULL fourth argument. The implementation of ioctl_send_response() is the case. It should release the object explicitly. This commit fixes the bug.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2023-52989 since 03/27/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 12/07/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 240793 (SUSE SLES12 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2025:01983-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 4.14.306, 4.19.273, 5.4.232, 5.10.168, 5.15.93 or 6.1.11 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch b2cd3947d116bb9ba7ff097b5fc747a8956764db/356ff89acdbe6a66019154bc7eb2d300f5b15103/53785fd9b315583cf029e39f72b73d23704a2253/d5a2dcee53fa6e6e2822f93cb3f1b0cd23163bee/5f4543c9382ae2d5062f6aa4fecae0c9258d0b0e/c8bdc88216f09cb7387fedbdf613524367328616/531390a243ef47448f8bad01c186c2787666bf4d is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (240793) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0649). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Dell Avamar
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 4.14.305
• 4.19.272
• 5.4.231
• 5.10.167
• 5.15.0
• 5.15.1
• 5.15.2
• 5.15.3
• 5.15.4
• 5.15.5
• 5.15.6
• 5.15.7
• 5.15.8
• 5.15.9
• 5.15.10
• 5.15.11
• 5.15.12
• 5.15.13
• 5.15.14
• 5.15.15
• 5.15.16
• 5.15.17
• 5.15.18
• 5.15.19
• 5.15.20
• 5.15.21
• 5.15.22
• 5.15.23
• 5.15.24
• 5.15.25
• 5.15.26
• 5.15.27
• 5.15.28
• 5.15.29
• 5.15.30
• 5.15.31
• 5.15.32
• 5.15.33
• 5.15.34
• 5.15.35
• 5.15.36
• 5.15.37
• 5.15.38
• 5.15.39
• 5.15.40
• 5.15.41
• 5.15.42
• 5.15.43
• 5.15.44
• 5.15.45
• 5.15.46
• 5.15.47
• 5.15.48
• 5.15.49
• 5.15.50
• 5.15.51
• 5.15.52
• 5.15.53
• 5.15.54
• 5.15.55
• 5.15.56
• 5.15.57
• 5.15.58
• 5.15.59
• 5.15.60
• 5.15.61
• 5.15.62
• 5.15.63
• 5.15.64
• 5.15.65
• 5.15.66
• 5.15.67
• 5.15.68
• 5.15.69
• 5.15.70
• 5.15.71
• 5.15.72
• 5.15.73
• 5.15.74
• 5.15.75
• 5.15.76
• 5.15.77
• 5.15.78
• 5.15.79
• 5.15.80
• 5.15.81
• 5.15.82
• 5.15.83
• 5.15.84
• 5.15.85
• 5.15.86
• 5.15.87
• 5.15.88
• 5.15.89
• 5.15.90
• 5.15.91
• 5.15.92
• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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