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🛡️ CVE-2023-52528 — kernel

🟡 CVSS 5.5 — Medium ✅ No Known Exploit NVD
5.5
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

net: usb: smsc75xx: Fix uninit-value access in __smsc75xx_read_reg

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

net: usb: smsc75xx: Fix uninit-value access in __smsc75xx_read_reg

syzbot reported the following uninit-value access issue:

=====================================================

BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in smsc75xx_wait_ready drivers/net/usb/smsc75xx.c:975 [inline]

BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in smsc75xx_bind+0x5c9/0x11e0 drivers/net/usb/smsc75xx.c:1482

CPU: 0 PID: 8696 Comm: kworker/0:3 Not tainted 5.8.0-rc5-syzkaller #0

Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011

Workqueue: usb_hub_wq hub_event

Call Trace:

__dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:77 [inline]

dump_stack+0x21c/0x280 lib/dump_stack.c:118

kmsan_report+0xf7/0x1e0 mm/kmsan/kmsan_report.c:121

__msan_warning+0x58/0xa0 mm/kmsan/kmsan_instr.c:215

smsc75xx_wait_ready drivers/net/usb/smsc75xx.c:975 [inline]

smsc75xx_bind+0x5c9/0x11e0 drivers/net/usb/smsc75xx.c:1482

usbnet_probe+0x1152/0x3f90 drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c:1737

usb_probe_interface+0xece/0x1550 drivers/usb/core/driver.c:374

really_probe+0xf20/0x20b0 drivers/base/dd.c:529

driver_probe_device+0x293/0x390 drivers/base/dd.c:701

__device_attach_driver+0x63f/0x830 drivers/base/dd.c:807

bus_for_each_drv+0x2ca/0x3f0 drivers/base/bus.c:431

__device_attach+0x4e2/0x7f0 drivers/base/dd.c:873

device_initial_probe+0x4a/0x60 drivers/base/dd.c:920

bus_probe_device+0x177/0x3d0 drivers/base/bus.c:491

device_add+0x3b0e/0x40d0 drivers/base/core.c:2680

usb_set_configuration+0x380f/0x3f10 drivers/usb/core/message.c:2032

usb_generic_driver_probe+0x138/0x300 drivers/usb/core/generic.c:241

usb_probe_device+0x311/0x490 drivers/usb/core/driver.c:272

really_probe+0xf20/0x20b0 drivers/base/dd.c:529

driver_probe_device+0x293/0x390 drivers/base/dd.c:701

__device_attach_driver+0x63f/0x830 drivers/base/dd.c:807

bus_for_each_drv+0x2ca/0x3f0 drivers/base/bus.c:431

__device_attach+0x4e2/0x7f0 drivers/base/dd.c:873

device_initial_probe+0x4a/0x60 drivers/base/dd.c:920

bus_probe_device+0x177/0x3d0 drivers/base/bus.c:491

device_add+0x3b0e/0x40d0 drivers/base/core.c:2680

usb_new_device+0x1bd4/0x2a30 drivers/usb/core/hub.c:2554

hub_port_connect drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5208 [inline]

hub_port_connect_change drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5348 [inline]

port_event drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5494 [inline]

hub_event+0x5e7b/0x8a70 drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5576

process_one_work+0x1688/0x2140 kernel/workqueue.c:2269

worker_thread+0x10bc/0x2730 kernel/workqueue.c:2415

kthread+0x551/0x590 kernel/kthread.c:292

ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:293

Local variable ----buf.i87@smsc75xx_bind created at:

__smsc75xx_read_reg drivers/net/usb/smsc75xx.c:83 [inline]

smsc75xx_wait_ready drivers/net/usb/smsc75xx.c:968 [inline]

smsc75xx_bind+0x485/0x11e0 drivers/net/usb/smsc75xx.c:1482

__smsc75xx_read_reg drivers/net/usb/smsc75xx.c:83 [inline]

smsc75xx_wait_ready drivers/net/usb/smsc75xx.c:968 [inline]

smsc75xx_bind+0x485/0x11e0 drivers/net/usb/smsc75xx.c:1482

This issue is caused because usbnet_read_cmd() reads less bytes than requested

(zero byte in the reproducer). In this case, 'buf' is not properly filled.

This patch fixes the issue by returning -ENODATA if usbnet_read_cmd() reads

less bytes than requested.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level 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:L/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: Low — an ordinary user account is enough.
  • 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.

Affected software

CVE-2023-52528 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • kernel (from 6.2.0 up to 6.5.7)
  • linux-kernel

Timeline and source

Published on 2 March 2024 and last revised on 12 August 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 (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
github.com (Advisory)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
git.kernel.org (Package)

Other advisories for this package

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

CVE-2023-52528 on other distributions

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

Details

Severity Medium
CVSS Score 5.5
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE N/A
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2024-03-02
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-08-12

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
kernel 6.2.0 6.5.7
linux-kernel — —

References

Similar Threats

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