CVE-2023-53045 | usb: gadget: u_audio: don't let userspace block driver unbind

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: gadget: u_audio: don't let userspace block driver unbind In the unbind callback for f_uac1 and f_uac2, a call to snd_card_free() via g_audio_cleanup() will disconnect the card and then wait for all resources to be released, which happens when the refcount falls to zero. Since userspace can keep the refcount incremented by not closing the relevant file descriptor, the call to unbind may block indefinitely. This can cause a deadlock during reboot, as evidenced by the following blocked task observed on my machine: task:reboot state:D stack:0 pid:2827 ppid:569 flags:0x0000000c Call trace: __switch_to+0xc8/0x140 __schedule+0x2f0/0x7c0 schedule+0x60/0xd0 schedule_timeout+0x180/0x1d4 wait_for_completion+0x78/0x180 snd_card_free+0x90/0xa0 g_audio_cleanup+0x2c/0x64 afunc_unbind+0x28/0x60 ... kernel_restart+0x4c/0xac __do_sys_reboot+0xcc/0x1ec __arm64_sys_reboot+0x28/0x30 invoke_syscall+0x4c/0x110 ... The issue can also be observed by opening the card with arecord and then stopping the process through the shell before unbinding: # arecord -D hw:UAC2Gadget -f S32_LE -c 2 -r 48000 /dev/null Recording WAVE '/dev/null' : Signed 32 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Stereo ^Z[1]+ Stopped arecord -D hw:UAC2Gadget -f S32_LE -c 2 -r 48000 /dev/null # echo gadget.0 > /sys/bus/gadget/drivers/configfs-gadget/unbind (observe that the unbind command never finishes) Fix the problem by using snd_card_free_when_closed() instead, which will still disconnect the card as desired, but defer the task of freeing the resources to the core once userspace closes its file descriptor.

Published: 2025-05-02 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53045 is rated Low Risk (22.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.12%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-53045

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.01% 0.12% +0.11%
2 2026-06-12 0.06% 0.01% -0.05%
3 2026-06-10 0.06%

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53045

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53045

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53045

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-53045 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-53045
redhat https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53045
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53045/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-53045 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, ignored 150, released 142, not-affected 94, needed 19, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53045

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53045

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 3.4, < 4.14.312 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.15, < 4.19.280 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.240 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.177 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.105 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.22 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.2.9 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53045

cvelogic Threat Intelligence