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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53343

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.291 / 5.4.251 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: icmp6: Fix null-ptr-deref of ip6_null_entry->rt6i_idev in icmp6_dev(). With some IPv6 Ext Hdr (RPL, SRv6, etc.), we can send a packet that has the link-local address as src and dst IP and will be forwarded to an external IP in the IPv6 Ext Hdr. For example, the script below generates a packet whose src IP is the link-local address and dst is updated to 11::. # for f in $(find /proc/sys/net/ -name *seg6_enabled*); do echo 1 > $f; done # python3 >>> from socket import * >>> from scapy.all import * >>> >>> SRC_ADDR = DST_ADDR = "fe80::5054:ff:fe12:3456" >>> >>> pkt = IPv6(src=SRC_ADDR, dst=DST_ADDR) >>> pkt /= IPv6ExtHdrSegmentRouting(type=4, addresses=["11::", "22::"], segleft=1) >>> >>> sk = socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_RAW, IPPROTO_RAW) >>> sk.sendto(bytes(pkt), (DST_ADDR, 0)) For such a packet, we call ip6_route_input() to look up a route for the next destination in these three functions depending on the header type. * ipv6_rthdr_rcv() * ipv6_rpl_srh_rcv() * ipv6_srh_rcv() If no route is found, ip6_null_entry is set to skb, and the following dst_input(skb) calls ip6_pkt_drop(). Finally, in icmp6_dev(), we dereference skb_rt6_info(skb)->rt6i_idev->dev as the input device is the loopback interface. Then, we have to check if skb_rt6_info(skb)->rt6i_idev is NULL or not to avoid NULL pointer deref for ip6_null_entry. BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI CPU: 0 PID: 157 Comm: python3 Not tainted 6.4.0-11996-gb121d614371c #35 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552ce722-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:icmp6_send (net/ipv6/icmp.c:436 net/ipv6/icmp.c:503) Code: fe ff ff 48 c7 40 30 c0 86 5d 83 e8 c6 44 1c 00 e9 c8 fc ff ff 49 8b 46 58 48 83 e0 fe 0f 84 4a fb ff ff 48 8b 80 d0 00 00 00 <48> 8b 00 44 8b 88 e0 00 00 00 e9 34 fb ff ff 4d 85 ed 0f 85 69 01 RSP: 0018:ffffc90000003c70 EFLAGS: 00000286 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000001 RCX: 00000000000000e0 RDX: 0000000000000021 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffff888006d72a18 RBP: ffffc90000003d80 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000001 R10: ffffc90000003d98 R11: 0000000000000040 R12: ffff888006d72a10 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff8880057fb800 R15: ffffffff835d86c0 FS: 00007f9dc72ee740(0000) GS:ffff88807dc00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 00000000057b2000 CR4: 00000000007506f0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <IRQ> ip6_pkt_drop (net/ipv6/route.c:4513) ipv6_rthdr_rcv (net/ipv6/exthdrs.c:640 net/ipv6/exthdrs.c:686) ip6_protocol_deliver_rcu (net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:437 (discriminator 5)) ip6_input_finish (./include/linux/rcupdate.h:781 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:483) __netif_receive_skb_one_core (net/core/dev.c:5455) process_backlog (./include/linux/rcupdate.h:781 net/core/dev.c:5895) __napi_poll (net/core/dev.c:6460) net_rx_action (net/core/dev.c:6529 net/core/dev.c:6660) __do_softirq (./arch/x86/include/asm/jump_label.h:27 ./include/linux/jump_label.h:207 ./include/trace/events/irq.h:142 kernel/softirq.c:554) do_softirq (kernel/softirq.c:454 kernel/softirq.c:441) </IRQ> <TASK> __local_bh_enable_ip (kernel/softirq.c:381) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4231) ip6_finish_output2 (./include/net/neighbour.h:544 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:135) rawv6_sendmsg (./include/net/dst.h:458 ./include/linux/netfilter.h:303 net/ipv6/raw.c:656 net/ipv6/raw.c:914) sock_sendmsg (net/socket.c:725 net/socket.c:748) __sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2134) __x64_sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2146 net/socket.c:2142 net/socket.c:2142) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:120) RIP: 0033:0x7f9dc751baea Code: d8 64 89 02 48 c7 c0 ff f ---truncated---

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:>= 4.14, < 4.19.291>= 4.20, < 5.4.251>= 5.5, < 5.10.188>= 5.11, < 5.15.121>= 5.16, < 6.1.40>= 6.2, < 6.4.5= 6.5

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 4.19.291 / 5.4.251 / 5.10.188 or later
Fixed in 4.19.2915.4.2515.10.188
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 4.19.291 / 5.4.251 / 5.10.188 / 5.15.121 or later stable release (6.x recommended)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Based on your current kernel version branch, upgrade to the first fixed version: for 4.14-4.19.x upgrade to 4.19.291+, for 4.20-5.4.x upgrade to 5.4.251+, for 5.5-5.10.x upgrade to 5.10.188+, for 5.11-5.15.x upgrade to 5.15.121+, or for any 6.x version upgrade to 6.1.76+ or later stable release
  3. 3. Update package repositories and install the new kernel package using your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-<version>` for Debian/Ubuntu, or `yum update kernel` for RHEL/CentOS)
  4. 4. Reboot the system to load the new kernel: `systemctl reboot`
  5. 5. After reboot, verify the new kernel is running and the fix is applied by checking `uname -r` matches the expected fixed version
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting services; ensure application compatibility with newer kernel versions before production deployment

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

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