NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2023-53110

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/smc: fix NULL sndbuf_desc in smc_cdc_tx_handler() When performing a stress test on SMC-R by rmmod mlx5_ib driver during the wrk/nginx test, we found that there is a probability of triggering a panic while terminating all link groups. This issue dues to the race between smc_smcr_terminate_all() and smc_buf_create(). smc_smcr_terminate_all smc_buf_create /* init */ conn->sndbuf_desc = NULL; ... __smc_lgr_terminate smc_conn_kill smc_close_abort smc_cdc_get_slot_and_msg_send __softirqentry_text_start smc_wr_tx_process_cqe smc_cdc_tx_handler READ(conn->sndbuf_desc->len); /* panic dues to NULL sndbuf_desc */ conn->sndbuf_desc = xxx; This patch tries to fix the issue by always to check the sndbuf_desc before send any cdc msg, to make sure that no null pointer is seen during cqe processing.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (38.8th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 39th percentile — 38.8% 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-2023-53110: held from 0.004 to 0.005.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 0b29ec6436138721acf5844e558f7334a0fa61d5, 5.5, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.3

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53110?
CVE-2023-53110 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2025-05-02.
How severe is CVE-2023-53110?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.