Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2023-52994
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: acpi: Fix suspend with Xen PV Commit f1e525009493 ("x86/boot: Skip realmode init code when running as Xen PV guest") missed one code path accessing real_mode_header, leading to dereferencing NULL when suspending the system under Xen: [ 348.284004] PM: suspend entry (deep) [ 348.289532] Filesystems sync: 0.005 seconds [ 348.291545] Freezing user space processes ... (elapsed 0.000 seconds) done. [ 348.292457] OOM killer disabled. [ 348.292462] Freezing remaining freezable tasks ... (elapsed 0.104 seconds) done. [ 348.396612] printk: Suspending console(s) (use no_console_suspend to debug) [ 348.749228] PM: suspend devices took 0.352 seconds [ 348.769713] ACPI: EC: interrupt blocked [ 348.816077] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 000000000000001c [ 348.816080] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 348.816081] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 348.816083] PGD 0 P4D 0 [ 348.816086] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI [ 348.816089] CPU: 0 PID: 6764 Comm: systemd-sleep Not tainted 6.1.3-1.fc32.qubes.x86_64 #1 [ 348.816092] Hardware name: Star Labs StarBook/StarBook, BIOS 8.01 07/03/2022 [ 348.816093] RIP: e030:acpi_get_wakeup_address+0xc/0x20 Fix that by adding an optional acpi callback allowing to skip setting the wakeup address, as in the Xen PV case this will be handled by the hypervisor anyway.
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 analysisThe 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
>= 6.0.16, < 6.1>= 6.1.2, < 6.1.9CVSS 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 · scoped6.16.1.9
Linux Kernel 6.1.9 or later (for 6.1.x branch); Linux Kernel 6.0.17 or later (for 6.0.x branch, though 6.0.x is EOL - recommend migrating to 6.1.9+)
- Identify the current kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- Determine if the system is running a Xen PV guest environment (check 'xl list' or 'xm list' or 'virsh list' for domain info)
- For systems running 6.1.x: Upgrade to kernel version 6.1.9 or later (e.g., 6.1.10, 6.1.11, etc.)
- For systems running 6.0.x: Upgrade to kernel version 6.0.17 or later, or migrate to a 6.1.x version >= 6.1.9
- If using a distribution kernel, check for distribution-specific security updates (e.g., 'dnf update kernel' for RHEL/Fedora, 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade' for Debian/Ubuntu)
- After kernel upgrade, reboot the system into the new kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming suspend/resume works under Xen PV
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-52994 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-52994 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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