NULL pointer dereference in Linux
CVE-2023-53667
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: cdc_ncm: Deal with too low values of dwNtbOutMaxSize Currently in cdc_ncm_check_tx_max(), if dwNtbOutMaxSize is lower than the calculated "min" value, but greater than zero, the logic sets tx_max to dwNtbOutMaxSize. This is then used to allocate a new SKB in cdc_ncm_fill_tx_frame() where all the data is handled. For small values of dwNtbOutMaxSize the memory allocated during alloc_skb(dwNtbOutMaxSize, GFP_ATOMIC) will have the same size, due to how size is aligned at alloc time: size = SKB_DATA_ALIGN(size); size += SKB_DATA_ALIGN(sizeof(struct skb_shared_info)); Thus we hit the same bug that we tried to squash with commit 2be6d4d16a084 ("net: cdc_ncm: Allow for dwNtbOutMaxSize to be unset or zero") Low values of dwNtbOutMaxSize do not cause an issue presently because at alloc_skb() time more memory (512b) is allocated than required for the SKB headers alone (320b), leaving some space (512b - 320b = 192b) for CDC data (172b). However, if more elements (for example 3 x u64 = [24b]) were added to one of the SKB header structs, say 'struct skb_shared_info', increasing its original size (320b [320b aligned]) to something larger (344b [384b aligned]), then suddenly the CDC data (172b) no longer fits in the spare SKB data area (512b - 384b = 128b). Consequently the SKB bounds checking semantics fails and panics: skbuff: skb_over_panic: text:ffffffff831f755b len:184 put:172 head:ffff88811f1c6c00 data:ffff88811f1c6c00 tail:0xb8 end:0x80 dev:<NULL> ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:113! invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN CPU: 0 PID: 57 Comm: kworker/0:2 Not tainted 5.15.106-syzkaller-00249-g19c0ed55a470 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 04/14/2023 Workqueue: mld mld_ifc_work RIP: 0010:skb_panic net/core/skbuff.c:113 [inline] RIP: 0010:skb_over_panic+0x14c/0x150 net/core/skbuff.c:118 [snip] Call Trace: <TASK> skb_put+0x151/0x210 net/core/skbuff.c:2047 skb_put_zero include/linux/skbuff.h:2422 [inline] cdc_ncm_ndp16 drivers/net/usb/cdc_ncm.c:1131 [inline] cdc_ncm_fill_tx_frame+0x11ab/0x3da0 drivers/net/usb/cdc_ncm.c:1308 cdc_ncm_tx_fixup+0xa3/0x100 Deal with too low values of dwNtbOutMaxSize, clamp it in the range [USB_CDC_NCM_NTB_MIN_OUT_SIZE, CDC_NCM_NTB_MAX_SIZE_TX]. We ensure enough data space is allocated to handle CDC data by making sure dwNtbOutMaxSize is not smaller than USB_CDC_NCM_NTB_MIN_OUT_SIZE.
EPSS: 0.001 (3.5th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
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.
Affected products
- Linux — versions 289507d3364f96f4b8814726917d572f71350d87, 3.16, 0
- Linux Linux_kernel — versions 6.4
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2023-53667?
- CVE-2023-53667 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-10-07.
- How severe is CVE-2023-53667?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.