#VU83903 NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2023-46862

Vulnerability identifier: #VU83903

Vulnerability 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-2023-46862

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Operating systems & Components / Operating system

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description

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 io_uring_show_fdinfo() function in io_uring/fdinfo.c. A local user can trigger a race with SQ thread exit and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: before 6.5.10, 6.5.10

---

External links
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/7644b1a1c9a7ae8ab99175989bfc8676055edb46
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=218032#c4

---

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.