Linux: NULL Pointer Dereference
CVE-2023-53621 is a high-severity NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions b9d30c38ee859d833a51131b5b4b864c7a6219d0, 6f0df8e16eb543167f2929cb756e695709a3551d as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.21% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Linux to b9d30c38ee859d833a51131b5b4b864c7a6219d0 or 6f0df8e16eb543167f2929cb756e695709a3551d, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 6.5.4 or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | f78dfc7b77d5c3527d0f895bef693f711802de5a up to, but not including, b9d30c38ee859d833a51131b5b4b864c7a6219d0; f78dfc7b77d5c3527d0f895bef693f711802de5a up to, but not including, 6f0df8e16eb543167f2929cb756e695709a3551d; 6.3 | b9d30c38ee859d833a51131b5b4b864c7a6219d0, 6f0df8e16eb543167f2929cb756e695709a3551d |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 6.3 up to, but not including, 6.5.4 | 6.5.4 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: memcontrol: ensure memcg acquired by id is properly set up In the eviction recency check, we attempt to retrieve the memcg to which the folio belonged when it was evicted, by the memcg id stored in the shadow entry. However, there is a chance that the retrieved memcg is not the original memcg that has been killed, but a new one which happens to have the same id. This is a somewhat unfortunate, but acceptable and rare inaccuracy in the heuristics. However, if we retrieve this new memcg between its allocation and when it is properly attached to the memcg hierarchy, we could run into the following NULL pointer exception during the memcg hierarchy traversal done in mem_cgroup_get_nr_swap_pages(): [ 155757.793456] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000c0 [ 155757.807568] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 155757.818024] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 155757.828482] PGD 401f77067 P4D 401f77067 PUD 401f76067 PMD 0 [ 155757.839985] Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP [ 155757.887870] RIP: 0010:mem_cgroup_get_nr_swap_pages+0x3d/0xb0 [ 155757.899377] Code: 29 19 4a 02 48 39 f9 74 63 48 8b 97 c0 00 00 00 48 8b b7 58 02 00 00 48 2b b7 c0 01 00 00 48 39 f0 48 0f 4d c6 48 39 d1 74 42 <48> 8b b2 c0 00 00 00 48 8b ba 58 02 00 00 48 2b ba c0 01 00 00 48 [ 155757.937125] RSP: 0018:ffffc9002ecdfbc8 EFLAGS: 00010286 [ 155757.947755] RAX: 00000000003a3b1c RBX: 000007ffffffffff RCX: ffff888280183000 [ 155757.962202] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0007ffffffffffff RDI: ffff888bbc2d1000 [ 155757.976648] RBP: 0000000000000001 R08: 000000000000000b R09: ffff888ad9cedba0 [ 155757.991094] R10: ffffea0039c07900 R11: 0000000000000010 R12: ffff888b23a7b000 [ 155758.005540] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff888bbc2d1000 R15: 000007ffffc71354 [ 155758.019991] FS: 00007f6234c68640(0000) GS:ffff88903f9c0000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 155758.036356] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 155758.048023] CR2: 00000000000000c0 CR3: 0000000a83eb8004 CR4: 00000000007706e0 [ 155758.062473] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [ 155758.076924] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [ 155758.091376] PKRU: 55555554 [ 155758.096957] Call Trace: [ 155758.102016] <TASK> [ 155758.106502] ? __die+0x78/0xc0 [ 155758.112793] ? page_fault_oops+0x286/0x380 [ 155758.121175] ? exc_page_fault+0x5d/0x110 [ 155758.129209] ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30 [ 155758.137763] ? mem_cgroup_get_nr_swap_pages+0x3d/0xb0 [ 155758.148060] workingset_test_recent+0xda/0x1b0 [ 155758.157133] workingset_refault+0xca/0x1e0 [ 155758.165508] filemap_add_folio+0x4d/0x70 [ 155758.173538] page_cache_ra_unbounded+0xed/0x190 [ 155758.182919] page_cache_sync_ra+0xd6/0x1e0 [ 155758.191738] filemap_read+0x68d/0xdf0 [ 155758.199495] ? mlx5e_napi_poll+0x123/0x940 [ 155758.207981] ? __napi_schedule+0x55/0x90 [ 155758.216095] __x64_sys_pread64+0x1d6/0x2c0 [ 155758.224601] do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x80 [ 155758.232058] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 [ 155758.242473] RIP: 0033:0x7f62c29153b5 [ 155758.249938] Code: e8 48 89 75 f0 89 7d f8 48 89 4d e0 e8 b4 e6 f7 ff 41 89 c0 4c 8b 55 e0 48 8b 55 e8 48 8b 75 f0 8b 7d f8 b8 11 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 00 f0 ff ff 77 33 44 89 c7 48 89 45 f8 e8 e7 e6 f7 ff 48 8b [ 155758.288005] RSP: 002b:00007f6234c5ffd0 EFLAGS: 00000293 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000011 [ 155758.303474] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f628c4e70c0 RCX: 00007f62c29153b5 [ 155758.318075] RDX: 000000000003c041 RSI: 00007f61d2986000 RDI: 0000000000000076 [ 155758.332678] RBP: 00007f6234c5fff0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000064d5230c [ 155758.347452] R10: 000000000027d450 R11: 0000000000000293 R12: 000000000003c041 [ 155758.362044] R13: 00007f61d2986000 R14: 00007f629e11b060 R15: 000000000027d450 [ 155758.376661] </TASK> This patch fixes the issue by moving the memcg's id publication from the alloc stage to ---truncated---
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: NULL Pointer Dereference
The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- For any pointers that could have been modified or provided from a function that can return NULL, check the pointer for NULL before use. When working with a multithreaded or otherwise asynchronous environment, ensure that proper locking APIs are used to lock before the check, and unlock when it has finished.
- Select a programming language that is not susceptible to these issues.
- Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is non-null before acting upon it.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Recent NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerabilities
- 8.7 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
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