#VU86244 NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2023-5972

Vulnerability identifier: #VU86244

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-2023-5972

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 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.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: All versions

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External links
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

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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.