CVE-2023-53452 | wifi: rtw89: fix potential race condition between napi_init and napi_enable

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: rtw89: fix potential race condition between napi_init and napi_enable A race condition can happen if netdev is registered, but NAPI isn't initialized yet, and meanwhile user space starts the netdev that will enable NAPI. Then, it hits BUG_ON(): kernel BUG at net/core/dev.c:6423! invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 0 PID: 417 Comm: iwd Not tainted 6.2.7-slab-dirty #3 eb0f5a8a9d91 Hardware name: LENOVO 21DL/LNVNB161216, BIOS JPCN20WW(V1.06) 09/20/2022 RIP: 0010:napi_enable+0x3f/0x50 Code: 48 89 c2 48 83 e2 f6 f6 81 89 08 00 00 02 74 0d 48 83 ... RSP: 0018:ffffada1414f3548 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffa01425802080 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 00000000000002ff RSI: ffffada14e50c614 RDI: ffffa01425808dc0 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000100 R12: ffffa01425808f58 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffffa01423498940 R15: 0000000000000001 FS: 00007f5577c0a740(0000) GS:ffffa0169fc00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f5577a19972 CR3: 0000000125a7a000 CR4: 0000000000750ef0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> rtw89_pci_ops_start+0x1c/0x70 [rtw89_pci 6cbc75429515c181cbc386478d5cfb32ffc5a0f8] rtw89_core_start+0xbe/0x160 [rtw89_core fe07ecb874820b6d778370d4acb6ef8a37847f22] rtw89_ops_start+0x26/0x40 [rtw89_core fe07ecb874820b6d778370d4acb6ef8a37847f22] drv_start+0x42/0x100 [mac80211 c07fa22af8c3cf3f7d7ab3884ca990784d72e2d2] ieee80211_do_open+0x311/0x7d0 [mac80211 c07fa22af8c3cf3f7d7ab3884ca990784d72e2d2] ieee80211_open+0x6a/0x90 [mac80211 c07fa22af8c3cf3f7d7ab3884ca990784d72e2d2] __dev_open+0xe0/0x180 __dev_change_flags+0x1da/0x250 dev_change_flags+0x26/0x70 do_setlink+0x37c/0x12c0 ? ep_poll_callback+0x246/0x290 ? __nla_validate_parse+0x61/0xd00 ? __wake_up_common_lock+0x8f/0xd0 To fix this, follow Jonas' suggestion to switch the order of these functions and move register netdev to be the last step of PCI probe. Also, correct the error handling of rtw89_core_register_hw().

Published: 2025-10-01 Last update: 2026-01-16 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-53452 is rated Low Risk (19.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

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-2023-53452

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 2025-10-01 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53452

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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.
 1.0 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53452

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53452

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2023-53452 unimportant 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-2023-53452
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53452
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53452/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-53452 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 158, not-affected 118, released 88, needed 33. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53452

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53452

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.28 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.2.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.3, < 6.3.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53452

cvelogic Threat Intelligence