NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2023-52994

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: acpi: Fix suspend with Xen PV Commit f1e525009493 ("x86/boot: Skip realmode init code when running as Xen PV guest") missed one code path accessing real_mode_header, leading to dereferencing NULL when suspending the system under Xen: [ 348.284004] PM: suspend entry (deep) [ 348.289532] Filesystems sync: 0.005 seconds [ 348.291545] Freezing user space processes ... (elapsed 0.000 seconds) done. [ 348.292457] OOM killer disabled. [ 348.292462] Freezing remaining freezable tasks ... (elapsed 0.104 seconds) done. [ 348.396612] printk: Suspending console(s) (use no_console_suspend to debug) [ 348.749228] PM: suspend devices took 0.352 seconds [ 348.769713] ACPI: EC: interrupt blocked [ 348.816077] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 000000000000001c [ 348.816080] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 348.816081] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 348.816083] PGD 0 P4D 0 [ 348.816086] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI [ 348.816089] CPU: 0 PID: 6764 Comm: systemd-sleep Not tainted 6.1.3-1.fc32.qubes.x86_64 #1 [ 348.816092] Hardware name: Star Labs StarBook/StarBook, BIOS 8.01 07/03/2022 [ 348.816093] RIP: e030:acpi_get_wakeup_address+0xc/0x20 Fix that by adding an optional acpi callback allowing to skip setting the wakeup address, as in the Xen PV case this will be handled by the hypervisor anyway.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (11.8th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 12th percentile — 11.8% 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-2023-52994: 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 b1898793777fe10a31c160bb8bc385d6eea640c6, 3414632beaadf635a4affd4ae278297978640965, 6.0.16
  • Linux Kernel

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-52994?
CVE-2023-52994 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-03-27.
How severe is CVE-2023-52994?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.