CVE-2023-53856
of: overlay: Call of_changeset_init() early
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: of: overlay: Call of_changeset_init() early When of_overlay_fdt_apply() fails, the changeset may be partially applied, and the caller is still expected to call of_overlay_remove() to clean up this partial state. However, of_overlay_apply() calls of_resolve_phandles() before init_overlay_changeset(). Hence if the overlay fails to apply due to an unresolved symbol, the overlay_changeset.cset.entries list is still uninitialized, and cleanup will crash with a NULL-pointer dereference in overlay_removal_is_ok(). Fix this by moving the call to of_changeset_init() from init_overlay_changeset() to of_overlay_fdt_apply(), where all other early initialization is done.
INFO
Published Date :
Dec. 9, 2025, 4:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
Dec. 9, 2025, 6:37 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Solution
- Move of_changeset_init() call to of_overlay_fdt_apply().
- Ensure overlay_changeset.cset.entries is initialized.
- Apply all necessary patches and updates.
- Test the cleanup process for partial states.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
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CVE-2023-53856.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2023-53856 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2023-53856
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
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New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Dec. 09, 2025
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: of: overlay: Call of_changeset_init() early When of_overlay_fdt_apply() fails, the changeset may be partially applied, and the caller is still expected to call of_overlay_remove() to clean up this partial state. However, of_overlay_apply() calls of_resolve_phandles() before init_overlay_changeset(). Hence if the overlay fails to apply due to an unresolved symbol, the overlay_changeset.cset.entries list is still uninitialized, and cleanup will crash with a NULL-pointer dereference in overlay_removal_is_ok(). Fix this by moving the call to of_changeset_init() from init_overlay_changeset() to of_overlay_fdt_apply(), where all other early initialization is done. Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/01bb96ad38089f5cc6de7746dac13437d35eb1dc Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3fb210cd521c9efcb211e9f5ce40fc907200bf13 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a9515ff4fb142b690a0d2b58782b15903b990dba Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/be86241bf5d1efd16d8a7231c13b33459c5d755d Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c403c81b577a67fe9ec6a2e89d143256487be50f