---
id: CVE-2023-54237
title: 'net/smc: fix potential panic dues to unprotected smc_llc_srv_add_link()'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net/smc: fix potential panic dues to unprotected smc_llc_srv_add_link()

  There is a certain chance to trigger the following panic:

  PID: 5900   TASK: ffff88c1c8af4100  …
severity: critical
cvss: 9.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cvssSource: cna
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 2d2209f2018943d4152a21eff5b76f1952e0b435 <
    fe35c24b730d38b421da93ac5d493cb4495e8e54
  - >-
    Linux >= 2d2209f2018943d4152a21eff5b76f1952e0b435 <
    f2f46de98c11d41ac8d22765f47ba54ce5480a5b
  - >-
    Linux >= 2d2209f2018943d4152a21eff5b76f1952e0b435 <
    0c764cc271d3aa6528ae1b3394babf34ac01f775
  - >-
    Linux >= 2d2209f2018943d4152a21eff5b76f1952e0b435 <
    e40b801b3603a8f90b46acbacdea3505c27f01c0
  - Linux 5.8
published: '2025-12-30'
updated: '2026-09-14'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-14T11:57:41.872Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54237'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fe35c24b730d38b421da93ac5d493cb4495e8e54'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f2f46de98c11d41ac8d22765f47ba54ce5480a5b'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c764cc271d3aa6528ae1b3394babf34ac01f775'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e40b801b3603a8f90b46acbacdea3505c27f01c0'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00538
epssPercentile: 0.44243
ingestedAt: '2026-09-14T15:23:07.460Z'
---

## Overview

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

net/smc: fix potential panic dues to unprotected smc_llc_srv_add_link()

There is a certain chance to trigger the following panic:

PID: 5900   TASK: ffff88c1c8af4100  CPU: 1   COMMAND: "kworker/1:48"
 #0 [ffff9456c1cc79a0] machine_kexec at ffffffff870665b7
 #1 [ffff9456c1cc79f0] __crash_kexec at ffffffff871b4c7a
 #2 [ffff9456c1cc7ab0] crash_kexec at ffffffff871b5b60
 #3 [ffff9456c1cc7ac0] oops_end at ffffffff87026ce7
 #4 [ffff9456c1cc7ae0] page_fault_oops at ffffffff87075715
 #5 [ffff9456c1cc7b58] exc_page_fault at ffffffff87ad0654
 #6 [ffff9456c1cc7b80] asm_exc_page_fault at ffffffff87c00b62
    [exception RIP: ib_alloc_mr+19]
    RIP: ffffffffc0c9cce3  RSP: ffff9456c1cc7c38  RFLAGS: 00010202
    RAX: 0000000000000000  RBX: 0000000000000002  RCX: 0000000000000004
    RDX: 0000000000000010  RSI: 0000000000000000  RDI: 0000000000000000
    RBP: ffff88c1ea281d00   R8: 000000020a34ffff   R9: ffff88c1350bbb20
    R10: 0000000000000000  R11: 0000000000000001  R12: 0000000000000000
    R13: 0000000000000010  R14: ffff88c1ab040a50  R15: ffff88c1ea281d00
    ORIG_RAX: ffffffffffffffff  CS: 0010  SS: 0018
 #7 [ffff9456c1cc7c60] smc_ib_get_memory_region at ffffffffc0aff6df [smc]
 #8 [ffff9456c1cc7c88] smcr_buf_map_link at ffffffffc0b0278c [smc]
 #9 [ffff9456c1cc7ce0] __smc_buf_create at ffffffffc0b03586 [smc]

The reason here is that when the server tries to create a second link,
smc_llc_srv_add_link() has no protection and may add a new link to
link group. This breaks the security environment protected by
llc_conf_mutex.

## Affected

- `Linux >= 2d2209f2018943d4152a21eff5b76f1952e0b435 < fe35c24b730d38b421da93ac5d493cb4495e8e54`
- `Linux >= 2d2209f2018943d4152a21eff5b76f1952e0b435 < f2f46de98c11d41ac8d22765f47ba54ce5480a5b`
- `Linux >= 2d2209f2018943d4152a21eff5b76f1952e0b435 < 0c764cc271d3aa6528ae1b3394babf34ac01f775`
- `Linux >= 2d2209f2018943d4152a21eff5b76f1952e0b435 < e40b801b3603a8f90b46acbacdea3505c27f01c0`
- `Linux 5.8`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.