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🛡️ CVE-2023-52492 — debian-linux

🟡 CVSS 4.4 — Medium ✅ No Known Exploit CWE-476 NVD
4.4
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

dmaengine: fix NULL pointer in channel unregistration function

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

dmaengine: fix NULL pointer in channel unregistration function

__dma_async_device_channel_register() can fail. In case of failure,

chan->local is freed (with free_percpu()), and chan->local is nullified.

When dma_async_device_unregister() is called (because of managed API or

intentionally by DMA controller driver), channels are unconditionally

unregistered, leading to this NULL pointer:

[ 1.318693] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000000000000d0

[...]

[ 1.484499] Call trace:

[ 1.486930] device_del+0x40/0x394

[ 1.490314] device_unregister+0x20/0x7c

[ 1.494220] __dma_async_device_channel_unregister+0x68/0xc0

Look at dma_async_device_register() function error path, channel device

unregistration is done only if chan->local is not NULL.

Then add the same condition at the beginning of

__dma_async_device_channel_unregister() function, to avoid NULL pointer

issue whatever the API used to reach this function.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs administrative privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

  • Attack vector: Local — a local account, shell or session on the host is needed.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: High — administrative rights are needed first.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: None.
  • Integrity impact: None.
  • Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Weakness class

CVE-2023-52492 is classified as CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference. A pointer that can be null is used without a check, crashing the process.

Affected software

CVE-2023-52492 is recorded against 3 packages.

  • debian-linux
  • kernel (from 6.7.0 up to 6.7.3)
  • linux-kernel (from 6.7 up to 6.7.3)

Timeline and source

Published on 11 March 2024 and last revised on 17 June 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.

References

git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
lists.debian.org

Other advisories for this package

debian-linux has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

Same weakness in other software

These advisories are the same class of weakness (CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference) in other software:

CVE-2023-52492 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity MEDIUM
CVSS Score 4.4
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE CWE-476
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2024-03-11
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-06-17

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
debian-linux — —
kernel 6.7.0 6.7.3
linux-kernel 6.7 6.7.3

References

Similar Threats

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