NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2023-5972

Vulnerability identifier: #VU86244

CSH Severity: Low

CVSS v4: 6.8 [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]

CVE-ID: CVE-2023-5972

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Local access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

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

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error within the nft_inner_init() and nft_expr_inner_parse() functions in nft_inner.c. A local user can set specially crafted values for the NFTA_INNER_NUM and NFTA_EXPR_NAM netlink attributes and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux-image-6.5.0-17-lowlatency-64k (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-17-lowlatency (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-lowlatency-hwe-22.04 (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-lowlatency-64k-hwe-22.04 (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-lowlatency-64k (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-lowlatency (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-17-generic (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-17-generic-64k (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-generic-hwe-22.04 (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-virtual-hwe-22.04 (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-generic-64k-hwe-22.04 (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-virtual (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-generic (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-generic-64k (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-generic-lpae (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-kvm (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-1007-starfive (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-starfive (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-1009-laptop (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-laptop-23.10 (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-raspi (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-raspi-nolpae (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-1010-raspi (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-gcp (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-1013-gcp (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-1013-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-1014-oem (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-oem-22.04d (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-oracle (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-1015-oracle (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-1015-azure (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-6.5.0-1015-azure-fde (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-azure (Ubuntu package)
linux-image-azure-fde (Ubuntu package)

Install updates from vendor's website.

linux-image-6.5.0-17-lowlatency-64k (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-17.17.1.1.1~22.04.1
linux-image-6.5.0-17-lowlatency (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-17.17.1.1.1~22.04.1
linux-image-lowlatency-hwe-22.04 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.17.1.1.1~22.04.6
linux-image-lowlatency-64k-hwe-22.04 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.17.1.1.1~22.04.6
linux-image-lowlatency-64k (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.17.14
linux-image-lowlatency (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.17.14
linux-image-6.5.0-17-generic (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-17.17~22.04.1
linux-image-6.5.0-17-generic-64k (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-17.17~22.04.1
linux-image-generic-hwe-22.04 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.17~22.04.9
linux-image-virtual-hwe-22.04 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.17~22.04.9
linux-image-generic-64k-hwe-22.04 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.17~22.04.9
linux-image-virtual (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.19
linux-image-generic (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.19
linux-image-generic-64k (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.19
linux-image-generic-lpae (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.19
linux-image-kvm (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.17.19
linux-image-6.5.0-1007-starfive (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-1007.8
linux-image-starfive (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.1007.9
linux-image-6.5.0-1009-laptop (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-1009.12
linux-image-laptop-23.10 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.1009.12
linux-image-raspi (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.1010.11
linux-image-raspi-nolpae (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.1010.11
linux-image-6.5.0-1010-raspi (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-1010.13
linux-image-gcp (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.1013.13
linux-image-aws (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.1013.13
linux-image-6.5.0-1013-gcp (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-1013.13
linux-image-6.5.0-1013-aws (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-1013.13
linux-image-6.5.0-1014-oem (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-1014.15
linux-image-oem-22.04d (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.1014.16
linux-image-oracle (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.1015.15
linux-image-6.5.0-1015-oracle (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-1015.15
linux-image-6.5.0-1015-azure (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-1015.15
linux-image-6.5.0-1015-azure-fde (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0-1015.15
linux-image-azure (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.1015.17
linux-image-azure-fde (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.5.0.1015.17

• https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-5972
• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2248189
• https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/505ce0630ad5d31185695f8a29dde8d29f28faa7
• https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/52177bbf19e6e9398375a148d2e13ed492b40b80

• Local denial of service in Linux kernel nft
• Ubuntu update for linux
• Ubuntu update for linux-azure