Vulnerability Database

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Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2023-52617 — linux / linux_kernel

Incomplete Cleanup

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

PCI: switchtec: Fix stdev_release() crash after surprise hot remove

A PCI device hot removal may occur while stdev->cdev is held open. The call to stdev_release() then happens during close or exit, at a point way past switchtec_pci_remove(). Otherwise the last ref would vanish with the trailing put_device(), just before return.

At that later point in time, the devm cleanup has already removed the stdev->mmio_mrpc mapping. Also, the stdev->pdev reference was not a counted one. Therefore, in DMA mode, the iowrite32() in stdev_release() will cause a fatal page fault, and the subsequent dma_free_coherent(), if reached, would pass a stale &stdev->pdev->dev pointer.

Fix by moving MRPC DMA shutdown into switchtec_pci_remove(), after stdev_kill(). Counting the stdev->pdev ref is now optional, but may prevent future accidents.

Reproducible via the script at https://lore.kernel.org/r/[email protected]

  • Published: Mar 18, 2024
  • Updated: Nov 16, 2025
  • CVE: CVE-2023-52617
  • Severity: Low
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Low
  • Score: 4.4
  • AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWEs:

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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