NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2023-53105

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: Fix cleanup null-ptr deref on encap lock During module is unloaded while a peer tc flow is still offloaded, first the peer uplink rep profile is changed to a nic profile, and so neigh encap lock is destroyed. Next during unload, the VF reps netdevs are unregistered which causes the original non-peer tc flow to be deleted, which deletes the peer flow. The peer flow deletion detaches the encap entry and try to take the already destroyed encap lock, causing the below trace. Fix this by clearing peer flows during tc eswitch cleanup (mlx5e_tc_esw_cleanup()). Relevant trace: [ 4316.837128] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000001d8 [ 4316.842239] RIP: 0010:__mutex_lock+0xb5/0xc40 [ 4316.851897] Call Trace: [ 4316.852481] <TASK> [ 4316.857214] mlx5e_rep_neigh_entry_release+0x93/0x790 [mlx5_core] [ 4316.858258] mlx5e_rep_encap_entry_detach+0xa7/0xf0 [mlx5_core] [ 4316.859134] mlx5e_encap_dealloc+0xa3/0xf0 [mlx5_core] [ 4316.859867] clean_encap_dests.part.0+0x5c/0xe0 [mlx5_core] [ 4316.860605] mlx5e_tc_del_fdb_flow+0x32a/0x810 [mlx5_core] [ 4316.862609] __mlx5e_tc_del_fdb_peer_flow+0x1a2/0x250 [mlx5_core] [ 4316.863394] mlx5e_tc_del_flow+0x(/0x630 [mlx5_core] [ 4316.864090] mlx5e_flow_put+0x5f/0x100 [mlx5_core] [ 4316.864771] mlx5e_delete_flower+0x4de/0xa40 [mlx5_core] [ 4316.865486] tc_setup_cb_reoffload+0x20/0x80 [ 4316.865905] fl_reoffload+0x47c/0x510 [cls_flower] [ 4316.869181] tcf_block_playback_offloads+0x91/0x1d0 [ 4316.869649] tcf_block_unbind+0xe7/0x1b0 [ 4316.870049] tcf_block_offload_cmd.isra.0+0x1ee/0x270 [ 4316.879266] tcf_block_offload_unbind+0x61/0xa0 [ 4316.879711] __tcf_block_put+0xa4/0x310

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 (8.8th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 9th percentile — 8.8% 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-2023-53105: 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 04de7dda7394fa9c2b0fc9cec65661d9b4f0d04d, 5.0, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.3

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53105?
CVE-2023-53105 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-2023-53105?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.