Linux Kernel up to 6.6.13/6.7.1 Thermal Driver device_register tz null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.13/6.7.1. It has been rated as problematic. This issue affects the function device_register of the component Thermal Driver. Performing a manipulation of the argument tz results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2023-52473. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.13/6.7.1 (Operating System). This affects the function device_register of the component Thermal Driver. The manipulation of the argument tz with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: thermal: core: Fix NULL pointer dereference in zone registration error path If device_register() in thermal_zone_device_register_with_trips() returns an error, the tz variable is set to NULL and subsequently dereferenced in kfree(tz->tzp). Commit adc8749b150c ("thermal/drivers/core: Use put_device() if device_register() fails") added the tz = NULL assignment in question to avoid a possible double-free after dropping the reference to the zone device. However, after commit 4649620d9404 ("thermal: core: Make thermal_zone_device_unregister() return after freeing the zone"), that assignment has become redundant, because dropping the reference to the zone device does not cause the zone object to be freed any more. Drop it to address the NULL pointer dereference.

The weakness was shared 02/25/2024. The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-52473 since 02/20/2024. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 210815 (RHEL 9 : kernel (RHSA-2024:9315)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.14, 6.7.2 or 6.8-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 335176dd8eba/02871710b930/04e6ccfc93c5 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (210815) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1293). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• Ubuntu Linux
• IBM DataPower Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.0
• 6.6.1
• 6.6.2
• 6.6.3
• 6.6.4
• 6.6.5
• 6.6.6
• 6.6.7
• 6.6.8
• 6.6.9
• 6.6.10
• 6.6.11
• 6.6.12
• 6.6.13
• 6.7.0
• 6.7.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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