NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel md driver

Published: 2025-05-04 | Updated: 2025-05-10

Risk	Low
Patch available	YES
Number of vulnerabilities	1
CVE-ID	CVE-2023-53044
CWE-ID	CWE-476
Exploitation vector	Local
Public exploit	N/A
Vulnerable software	Linux kernel Operating systems & Components / Operating system
Vendor	Linux Foundation

Security Bulletin

This security bulletin contains one low risk vulnerability.

1) NULL pointer dereference

EUVDB-ID: #VU108465

Risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.3 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2023-53044

CWE-ID: CWE-476 - NULL Pointer Dereference

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to NULL pointer dereference within the alloc_dev() function in drivers/md/dm.c, within the dm_stat_in_flight() and dm_stats_init() functions in drivers/md/dm-stats.c. A local user can perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 4.14 - 6.3 rc6

CPE2.3

External links

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.