CVE-2023-54324: dm: fix a race condition in retrieve_deps

Severity: unknown
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: 2025-12-30 · updated 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm: fix a race condition in retrieve_deps There's a race condition in the multipath target when retrieve_deps races with multipath_message calling dm_get_device and dm_put_device. retrieve_deps walks the list of open devices without holding any lock but multipath may add or remove devices to the list while it is running. The end result may be memory corruption or use-after-free memory access. See this description of a UAF with multipath_message(): https://listman.redhat.com/archives/dm-devel/2022-October/052373.html Fix this bug by introducing a new rw semaphore "devices_lock". We grab devices_lock for read in retrieve_deps and we grab it for write in dm_get_device and dm_put_device.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 2.6.12 — fixed in 6.6

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.6. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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