NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2023-53055

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fscrypt: destroy keyring after security_sb_delete() fscrypt_destroy_keyring() must be called after all potentially-encrypted inodes were evicted; otherwise it cannot safely destroy the keyring. Since inodes that are in-use by the Landlock LSM don't get evicted until security_sb_delete(), this means that fscrypt_destroy_keyring() must be called *after* security_sb_delete(). This fixes a WARN_ON followed by a NULL dereference, only possible if Landlock was being used on encrypted files.

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 (9.0th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 9th percentile — 9.0% 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-2023-53055: 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 5.15.105, 6.1.22, d7e7b9af104c7b389a0c21eb26532511bce4b510
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.3

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53055?
CVE-2023-53055 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-05-02.
How severe is CVE-2023-53055?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.