Linux Kernel up to 6.1.29/6.3.3 pm_runtime_put return value

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.29/6.3.3. This affects the function pm_runtime_put. The manipulation leads to return value. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2023-54259. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.29/6.3.3. This issue affects the function pm_runtime_put. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a return value vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-252. The product does not check the return value from a method or function, which can prevent it from detecting unexpected states and conditions. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: soundwire: bus: Fix unbalanced pm_runtime_put() causing usage count underflow This reverts commit 443a98e649b4 ("soundwire: bus: use pm_runtime_resume_and_get()") Change calls to pm_runtime_resume_and_get() back to pm_runtime_get_sync(). This fixes a usage count underrun caused by doing a pm_runtime_put() even though pm_runtime_resume_and_get() returned an error. The three affected functions ignore -EACCES error from trying to get pm_runtime, and carry on, including a put at the end of the function. But pm_runtime_resume_and_get() does not increment the usage count if it returns an error. So in the -EACCES case you must not call pm_runtime_put(). The documentation for pm_runtime_get_sync() says: "Consider using pm_runtime_resume_and_get() ... as this is likely to result in cleaner code." In this case I don't think it results in cleaner code because the pm_runtime_put() at the end of the function would have to be conditional on the return value from pm_runtime_resume_and_get() at the top of the function. pm_runtime_get_sync() doesn't have this problem because it always increments the count, so always needs a put. The code can just flow through and do the pm_runtime_put() unconditionally.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-54259 since 12/30/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 04/27/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.1.30 or 6.3.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 4e5e9da139c007dfc397a159093b4c4187ee67fa/203aa4374c433159f163acde2d0bd4118f23bbaf/e9537962519e88969f5f69cd0571eb4f6984403c 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 vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2941). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• IBM Power Hardware Management Console
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• IBM DataPower Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.1.17
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.1.20
• 6.1.21
• 6.1.22
• 6.1.23
• 6.1.24
• 6.1.25
• 6.1.26
• 6.1.27
• 6.1.28
• 6.1.29
• 6.3.0
• 6.3.1
• 6.3.2
• 6.3.3

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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