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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-52856

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.139 / 6.1.63 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, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/bridge: lt8912b: Fix crash on bridge detach The lt8912b driver, in its bridge detach function, calls drm_connector_unregister() and drm_connector_cleanup(). drm_connector_unregister() should be called only for connectors explicitly registered with drm_connector_register(), which is not the case in lt8912b. The driver's drm_connector_funcs.destroy hook is set to drm_connector_cleanup(). Thus the driver should not call either drm_connector_unregister() nor drm_connector_cleanup() in its lt8912_bridge_detach(), as they cause a crash on bridge detach: Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 Mem abort info: ESR = 0x0000000096000006 EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits SET = 0, FnV = 0 EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 FSC = 0x06: level 2 translation fault Data abort info: ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000006, ISS2 = 0x00000000 CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 user pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=00000000858f3000 [0000000000000000] pgd=0800000085918003, p4d=0800000085918003, pud=0800000085431003, pmd=0000000000000000 Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000006 [#1] PREEMPT SMP Modules linked in: tidss(-) display_connector lontium_lt8912b tc358768 panel_lvds panel_simple drm_dma_helper drm_kms_helper drm drm_panel_orientation_quirks CPU: 3 PID: 462 Comm: rmmod Tainted: G W 6.5.0-rc2+ #2 Hardware name: Toradex Verdin AM62 on Verdin Development Board (DT) pstate: 80000005 (Nzcv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : drm_connector_cleanup+0x78/0x2d4 [drm] lr : lt8912_bridge_detach+0x54/0x6c [lontium_lt8912b] sp : ffff800082ed3a90 x29: ffff800082ed3a90 x28: ffff0000040c1940 x27: 0000000000000000 x26: 0000000000000000 x25: dead000000000122 x24: dead000000000122 x23: dead000000000100 x22: ffff000003fb6388 x21: 0000000000000000 x20: 0000000000000000 x19: ffff000003fb6260 x18: fffffffffffe56e8 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0010000000000000 x15: 0000000000000038 x14: 0000000000000000 x13: ffff800081914b48 x12: 000000000000040e x11: 000000000000015a x10: ffff80008196ebb8 x9 : ffff800081914b48 x8 : 00000000ffffefff x7 : ffff0000040c1940 x6 : ffff80007aa649d0 x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 : ffff80008159e008 x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 0000000000000000 Call trace: drm_connector_cleanup+0x78/0x2d4 [drm] lt8912_bridge_detach+0x54/0x6c [lontium_lt8912b] drm_bridge_detach+0x44/0x84 [drm] drm_encoder_cleanup+0x40/0xb8 [drm] drmm_encoder_alloc_release+0x1c/0x30 [drm] drm_managed_release+0xac/0x148 [drm] drm_dev_put.part.0+0x88/0xb8 [drm] devm_drm_dev_init_release+0x14/0x24 [drm] devm_action_release+0x14/0x20 release_nodes+0x5c/0x90 devres_release_all+0x8c/0xe0 device_unbind_cleanup+0x18/0x68 device_release_driver_internal+0x208/0x23c driver_detach+0x4c/0x94 bus_remove_driver+0x70/0xf4 driver_unregister+0x30/0x60 platform_driver_unregister+0x14/0x20 tidss_platform_driver_exit+0x18/0xb2c [tidss] __arm64_sys_delete_module+0x1a0/0x2b4 invoke_syscall+0x48/0x110 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x60/0x10c do_el0_svc_compat+0x1c/0x40 el0_svc_compat+0x40/0xac el0t_32_sync_handler+0xb0/0x138 el0t_32_sync+0x194/0x198 Code: 9104a276 f2fbd5b7 aa0203e1 91008af8 (f85c0420)

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:>= 5.13, < 5.15.139>= 5.16, < 6.1.63>= 6.2, < 6.5.12>= 6.6, < 6.6.2

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 5.15.139 / 6.1.63 / 6.5.12 or later
Fixed in 5.15.1396.1.636.5.12
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel >= 5.15.139 (5.15 branch), >= 6.1.63 (6.1 branch), >= 6.5.12 (6.2-6.5 branches), or >= 6.6.2 (6.6 branch)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
  2. Determine which kernel branch you are running (e.g., 5.15.x, 6.1.x, 6.2.x, 6.6.x)
  3. Upgrade to a kernel version that includes the fix: for 5.15.x branch upgrade to >= 5.15.139, for 6.1.x upgrade to >= 6.1.63, for 6.2.x upgrade to >= 6.5.12, for 6.6.x upgrade to >= 6.6.2
  4. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the lt8912b driver loads without crash
Caveat Standard kernel upgrade risks apply - ensure driver compatibility with user-space components and verify any custom kernel modules work with the new version

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

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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-2023-52856 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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