CVE-2023-53612: hwmon: (coretemp) Simplify platform device handling

Published Oct 4, 2025
·
Updated

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

hwmon: (coretemp) Simplify platform device handling

Coretemp's platform driver is unconventional. All the real work is done globally by the initcall and CPU hotplug notifiers, while the "driver" effectively just wraps an allocation and the registration of the hwmon interface in a long-winded round-trip through the driver core. The whole logic of dynamically creating and destroying platform devices to bring the interfaces up and down is error prone, since it assumes platformdeviceadd() will synchronously bind the driver and set drvdata before it returns, thus results in a NULL dereference if driversautoprobe is turned off for the platform bus. Furthermore, the unusual approach of doing that from within a CPU hotplug notifier, already commented in the code that it deadlocks suspend, also causes lockdep issues for other drivers or subsystems which may want to legitimately register a CPU hotplug notifier from a platform bus notifier.

All of these issues can be solved by ripping this unusual behaviour out completely, simply tying the platform devices to the lifetime of the module itself, and directly managing the hwmon interfaces from the hotplug notifiers. There is a slight user-visible change in that /sys/bus/platform/drivers/coretemp will no longer appear, and /sys/devices/platform/coretemp.n will remain present if package n is hotplugged off, but hwmon users should really only be looking for the presence of the hwmon interfaces, whose behaviour remains unchanged.

Affected Software

6 affected components
Linux Linux kernel
Linux Linux kernel>=4.10<5.4.235
Linux Linux kernel>=5.5<5.10.173
Linux Linux kernel>=5.11<5.15.99
Linux Linux kernel>=5.16<6.1.16
Linux Linux kernel>=6.2<6.2.3

Event History

Oct 4, 2025
CVE Published
via MITRE·03:44 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·03:44 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·04:15 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2023-53612?

CVE-2023-53612 has not publicly been assigned a specific severity rating but it affects the Linux kernel, which could lead to system instability.

2

How do I fix CVE-2023-53612?

To fix CVE-2023-53612, it is recommended to update to a patched version of the Linux kernel provided by your distribution.

3

Which versions of the Linux kernel are affected by CVE-2023-53612?

CVE-2023-53612 impacts specific versions of the Linux kernel, but the exact affected versions should be checked in your distribution's security advisory.

4

Can CVE-2023-53612 be exploited remotely?

The exploitability of CVE-2023-53612 depends on the specific system configuration and exposure but details on remote exploitation are not clearly established.

5

What is the nature of the vulnerability in CVE-2023-53612?

CVE-2023-53612 relates to unconventional handling of platform devices within the Coretemp driver in the Linux kernel.

Contact

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