dbcve.org
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-23001

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.16.3 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel before 5.16.3, drivers/scsi/ufs/ufs-mediatek.c misinterprets the regulator_get return value (expects it to be NULL in the error case, whereas it is actually an error pointer).

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:< 5.16.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.16.3 or later
Fixed in 5.16.3
Vendor patch cdn.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.16.3 or later

  1. 1. Back up current kernel configuration and important data before proceeding
  2. 2. Obtain Linux kernel 5.16.3 or later from https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ or your distribution's kernel package repository
  3. 3. Compile and install the new kernel (if building from source): make -j$(nproc) && make modules_install && make install
  4. 4. If using a distribution package manager, install the available kernel package that meets or exceeds version 5.16.3
  5. 5. Update bootloader configuration (e.g., GRUB) to ensure the new kernel is selected at boot
  6. 6. Reboot the system into the new kernel
  7. 7. Verify the fix by checking that /proc/version shows the new kernel version and that the ufs-mediatek driver loads correctly: cat /proc/version && lsmod | grep ufs
Caveat Kernel upgrades require system reboot and may have minor driver/module compatibility considerations; this is a point release upgrade within 5.x so compatibility risk is low

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-23001 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-23001 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data