NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2023-52574

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: team: fix null-ptr-deref when team device type is changed Get a null-ptr-deref bug as follows with reproducer [1]. BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000228 ... RIP: 0010:vlan_dev_hard_header+0x35/0x140 [8021q] ... Call Trace: <TASK> ? __die+0x24/0x70 ? page_fault_oops+0x82/0x150 ? exc_page_fault+0x69/0x150 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x26/0x30 ? vlan_dev_hard_header+0x35/0x140 [8021q] ? vlan_dev_hard_header+0x8e/0x140 [8021q] neigh_connected_output+0xb2/0x100 ip6_finish_output2+0x1cb/0x520 ? nf_hook_slow+0x43/0xc0 ? ip6_mtu+0x46/0x80 ip6_finish_output+0x2a/0xb0 mld_sendpack+0x18f/0x250 mld_ifc_work+0x39/0x160 process_one_work+0x1e6/0x3f0 worker_thread+0x4d/0x2f0 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 kthread+0xe5/0x120 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x34/0x50 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1b/0x30 [1] $ teamd -t team0 -d -c '{"runner": {"name": "loadbalance"}}' $ ip link add name t-dummy type dummy $ ip link add link t-dummy name t-dummy.100 type vlan id 100 $ ip link add name t-nlmon type nlmon $ ip link set t-nlmon master team0 $ ip link set t-nlmon nomaster $ ip link set t-dummy up $ ip link set team0 up $ ip link set t-dummy.100 down $ ip link set t-dummy.100 master team0 When enslave a vlan device to team device and team device type is changed from non-ether to ether, header_ops of team device is changed to vlan_header_ops. That is incorrect and will trigger null-ptr-deref for vlan->real_dev in vlan_dev_hard_header() because team device is not a vlan device. Cache eth_header_ops in team_setup(), then assign cached header_ops to header_ops of team net device when its type is changed from non-ether to ether to fix the bug.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (13.6th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 14th percentile — 13.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2023-52574: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: 0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 1d76efe1577b4323609b1bcbfafa8b731eda071a, 3.7, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.6

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-52574?
CVE-2023-52574 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2024-03-02.
How severe is CVE-2023-52574?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.