Linux Kernel up to 6.1.19/6.2.6 on HIGHMEM erofs erofs_worker null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.19/6.2.6 on HIGHMEM and classified as critical. This issue affects the function erofs_worker of the component erofs. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2023-53144. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.19/6.2.6 on HIGHMEM. This issue affects the function erofs_worker of the component erofs. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to 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. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: erofs: fix wrong kunmap when using LZMA on HIGHMEM platforms As the call trace shown, the root cause is kunmap incorrect pages: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000 CPU: 1 PID: 40 Comm: kworker/u5:0 Not tainted 6.2.0-rc5 #4 Workqueue: erofs_worker z_erofs_decompressqueue_work EIP: z_erofs_lzma_decompress+0x34b/0x8ac z_erofs_decompress+0x12/0x14 z_erofs_decompress_queue+0x7e7/0xb1c z_erofs_decompressqueue_work+0x32/0x60 process_one_work+0x24b/0x4d8 ? process_one_work+0x1a4/0x4d8 worker_thread+0x14c/0x3fc kthread+0xe6/0x10c ? rescuer_thread+0x358/0x358 ? kthread_complete_and_exit+0x18/0x18 ret_from_fork+0x1c/0x28 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- The bug is trivial and should be fixed now. It has no impact on !HIGHMEM platforms.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-53144 since 05/02/2025. The exploitation is known to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 247436 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53144), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.20 or 6.2.7 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch fa4056781ac067b5946c6811459e1a36842047fd/28aea8ae6cf212a5bf3ed962b27921e2029ad754/8f121dfb15f7b4ab345992ce96003eb63fd608f4 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 (247436) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0932). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell Avamar
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• IBM QRadar SIEM

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.1.17
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2
• 6.2.3
• 6.2.4
• 6.2.5
• 6.2.6

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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