CVE-2023-53256: firmware: arm_ffa: Fix FFA device names for logical partitions

Published Sep 15, 2025
·
Updated

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

firmware: armffa: Fix FFA device names for logical partitions

Each physical partition can provide multiple services each with UUID. Each such service can be presented as logical partition with a unique combination of VM ID and UUID. The number of distinct UUID in a system will be less than or equal to the number of logical partitions.

However, currently it fails to register more than one logical partition or service within a physical partition as the device name contains only VM ID while both VM ID and UUID are maintained in the partition information. The kernel complains with the below message:

| sysfs: cannot create duplicate filename '/devices/arm-ffa-8001' | CPU: 1 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 6.3.0-rc7 #8 | Hardware name: FVP Base RevC (DT) | Call trace: | dumpbacktrace+0xf8/0x118 | showstack+0x18/0x24 | dumpstacklvl+0x50/0x68 | dumpstack+0x18/0x24 | sysfscreatedirns+0xe0/0x13c | kobjectaddinternal+0x220/0x3d4 | kobjectadd+0x94/0x100 | deviceadd+0x144/0x5d8 | deviceregister+0x20/0x30 | ffadeviceregister+0x88/0xd8 | ffasetuppartitions+0x108/0x1b8 | ffainit+0x2ec/0x3a4 | dooneinitcall+0xcc/0x240 | doinitcalllevel+0x8c/0xac | doinitcalls+0x54/0x94 | dobasicsetup+0x1c/0x28 | kernelinitfreeable+0x100/0x16c | kernelinit+0x20/0x1a0 | retfromfork+0x10/0x20 | kobjectaddinternal failed for arm-ffa-8001 with -EEXIST, don't try to | register things with the same name in the same directory. | armffa arm-ffa: unable to register device arm-ffa-8001 err=-17 | ARM FF-A: ffasetuppartitions: failed to register partition ID 0x8001

By virtue of being random enough to avoid collisions when generated in a distributed system, there is no way to compress UUID keys to the number of bits required to identify each. We can eliminate '-' in the name but it is not worth eliminating 4 bytes and add unnecessary logic for doing that. Also v1.0 doesn't provide the UUID of the partitions which makes it hard to use the same for the device name.

So to keep it simple, let us alloc an ID using idaalloc() and append the same to "arm-ffa" to make up a unique device name. Also stash the id value in ffadev to help freeing the ID later when the device is destroyed.

Affected Software

7 affected components
Linux Kernel
Linux Linux kernel>=5.14<5.15.114
Linux Linux kernel>=5.16<6.1.31
Linux Linux kernel>=6.2<6.3.5
Linux Linux kernel=6.4-rc1
Linux Linux kernel=6.4-rc2
Linux Linux kernel=6.4-rc3

Event History

Sep 15, 2025
CVE Published
via MITRE·02:46 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·02:46 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·03:15 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2023-53256?

The severity of CVE-2023-53256 is categorized as medium and impacts the logical partitioning services in the Linux kernel.

2

What systems are affected by CVE-2023-53256?

CVE-2023-53256 affects various versions of the Linux kernel that utilize firmware with logical partitioning.

3

How do I fix CVE-2023-53256?

To fix CVE-2023-53256, you should apply the latest updates provided for your Linux kernel version.

4

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-53256?

CVE-2023-53256 is a vulnerability that pertains to the firmware management of logical partitions in the Linux kernel.

5

Is there an exploit for CVE-2023-53256?

As of now, there are no public exploits reported for CVE-2023-53256, but it is important to stay updated on any potential threats.

Contact

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