Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2023-53648
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: ALSA: ac97: Fix possible NULL dereference in snd_ac97_mixer smatch error: sound/pci/ac97/ac97_codec.c:2354 snd_ac97_mixer() error: we previously assumed 'rac97' could be null (see line 2072) remove redundant assignment, return error if rac97 is NULL.
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
>= 2.6.28, < 4.14.322>= 4.15, < 4.19.291>= 4.20, < 5.4.251>= 5.5, < 5.10.188>= 5.11, < 5.15.121>= 5.16, < 6.1.39>= 6.2, < 6.3.13>= 6.4, < 6.4.4CVSS 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 · scoped4.14.3224.19.2915.4.251
Upgrade to kernel >= 4.14.322, >= 4.19.291, >= 5.4.251, or >= 5.10.188 depending on your current branch
- Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
- Determine which version branch the system is on (e.g., 4.14.x, 4.19.x, 5.4.x, or 5.10.x)
- For enterprise distributions, apply the vendor-supplied kernel patch from commit 09baf460dfba79ee6a0c72e68ccdbbba84d894df, or obtain a patched kernel package from your distribution vendor
- The patch adds a NULL check for 'rac97' in sound/pci/ac97/ac97_codec.c snd_ac97_mixer() function before use, returning -ENOMEM or similar error if NULL
- Reboot into the patched kernel
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-53648 — 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-2023-53648 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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