NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2023-53603

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: qla2xxx: Avoid fcport pointer dereference Klocwork reported warning of NULL pointer may be dereferenced. The routine exits when sa_ctl is NULL and fcport is allocated after the exit call thus causing NULL fcport pointer to dereference at the time of exit. To avoid fcport pointer dereference, exit the routine when sa_ctl is NULL.

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: 0.001 (3.2th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 3rd percentile — 3.2% 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-2023-53603: held from 0.001 to 0.001.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53603?
CVE-2023-53603 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-10-04.
How severe is CVE-2023-53603?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2023-53603 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.