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.
Advisories

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Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Important


Tue, 09 Dec 2025 02:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values 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.
Title of: overlay: Call of_changeset_init() early
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2025-12-09T01:30:22.012Z

Reserved: 2025-12-09T01:27:17.828Z

Link: CVE-2023-53856

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2025-12-09T16:17:26.283

Modified: 2025-12-09T18:37:13.640

Link: CVE-2023-53856

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Important

Publid Date: 2025-12-09T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2023-53856 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.