🛡️ CVE-2023-5972 on Ubuntu — linux

Distribution advisory

This page covers CVE-2023-5972 as tracked by Ubuntu, for the package linux. The fix is available in version 6.6.0-14.14; earlier versions remain affected.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is high, 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 high, integrity high, availability high.

CVSS metrics in full

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

• Attack vector: Local — a local account, shell or session on the host is needed.
• Attack complexity: High — the attacker first has to win a race, learn a secret or otherwise prepare the target.
• 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: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.
• Integrity impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.
• Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Weakness class

UBUNTU-CVE-2023-5972 is classified as CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference. A pointer that can be null is used without a check, crashing the process.

Affected software

UBUNTU-CVE-2023-5972 is recorded against 73 packages.

• linux (fixed in 6.6.0-14.14)
• linux-allwinner-5.19
• linux-aws-5.0
• linux-aws-5.11
• linux-aws-5.13
• linux-aws-5.19
• linux-aws-5.3
• linux-aws-5.8
• linux-aws-6.2
• linux-aws-6.5
• linux-azure
• linux-azure-5.11
• linux-azure-5.13
• linux-azure-5.19
• linux-azure-5.3
• linux-azure-5.8
• linux-azure-6.2
• linux-azure-6.5
• linux-azure-edge
• linux-azure-fde
• linux-azure-fde-5.19
• linux-azure-fde-6.2
• linux-gcp
• linux-gcp-5.11

Timeline and source

Published on 23 November 2023 and last revised on 22 April 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.

References

ubuntu.com (Report)
git.kernel.org (Report)
git.kernel.org (Report)
access.redhat.com (Report)
github.com (Report)
github.com (Report)
ubuntu.com (Advisory)
ubuntu.com (Advisory)
www.cve.org (Report)

Other advisories for this package

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

• DEBIAN-CVE-2022-4994 (published 30 Jul 2026)
• CVE-2026-35233 (4.4 Medium, published 1 May 2026)
• CVE-2026-21996 (3.3 Low, published 1 May 2026)
• CVE-2026-21991 (5.5 Medium, published 16 Mar 2026)
• CGA-mcwh-q4vm-9f29 (published 29 Jan 2026)
• CGA-w6xv-3fg4-grm5 (published 29 Jan 2026)
• CGA-53xq-6pp4-5v7f (published 7 Jan 2026)
• CGA-g2p8-xhwc-x7hp (published 7 Jan 2026)

Same weakness in other software

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

• CVE-2022-36000 (8.0 High, published 13 Jul 2026)
• CVE-2022-35965 (8.0 High, published 13 Jul 2026)
• CVE-2023-25660 (8.0 High, published 13 Jul 2026)
• CVE-2023-25674 (8.0 High, published 13 Jul 2026)
• CVE-2022-36014 (8.0 High, published 13 Jul 2026)
• CVE-2022-36013 (8.0 High, published 13 Jul 2026)
• CVE-2023-25670 (8.0 High, published 13 Jul 2026)
• CVE-2023-25665 (8.0 High, published 13 Jul 2026)

CVE-2023-5972 on other distributions

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

Details

Affected Packages

References