CVE-2023-53140: scsi: core: Remove the /proc/scsi/${proc_name} directory earlier

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-05-02 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-401

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: core: Remove the /proc/scsi/${proc_name} directory earlier Remove the /proc/scsi/${proc_name} directory earlier to fix a race condition between unloading and reloading kernel modules. This fixes a bug introduced in 2009 by commit 77c019768f06 ("[SCSI] fix /proc memory leak in the SCSI core"). Fix the following kernel warning: proc_dir_entry 'scsi/scsi_debug' already registered WARNING: CPU: 19 PID: 27986 at fs/proc/generic.c:376 proc_register+0x27d/0x2e0 Call Trace: proc_mkdir+0xb5/0xe0 scsi_proc_hostdir_add+0xb5/0x170 scsi_host_alloc+0x683/0x6c0 sdebug_driver_probe+0x6b/0x2d0 [scsi_debug] really_probe+0x159/0x540 __driver_probe_device+0xdc/0x230 driver_probe_device+0x4f/0x120 __device_attach_driver+0xef/0x180 bus_for_each_drv+0xe5/0x130 __device_attach+0x127/0x290 device_initial_probe+0x17/0x20 bus_probe_device+0x110/0x130 device_add+0x673/0xc80 device_register+0x1e/0x30 sdebug_add_host_helper+0x1a7/0x3b0 [scsi_debug] scsi_debug_init+0x64f/0x1000 [scsi_debug] do_one_initcall+0xd7/0x470 do_init_module+0xe7/0x330 load_module+0x122a/0x12c0 __do_sys_finit_module+0x124/0x1a0 __x64_sys_finit_module+0x46/0x50 do_syscall_64+0x38/0x80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 2.6.30 before 4.19.278; from 4.20 before 5.4.237; from 5.5 before 5.10.175; from 5.11 before 5.15.103; from 5.16 before 6.1.20; from 6.2 before 6.2.7 — fixed in 4.19.278, 5.10.175, 5.15.103, 5.4.237, 6.1.20, 6.2.7

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 4.19.278, 5.10.175, 5.15.103, 5.4.237. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

Get alerted when CVE-2023-53140 or the next vulnerability affects your stack