Linux Kernel up to 6.1.15/6.2.2 devm_kzalloc null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.15/6.2.2. Impacted is the function devm_kzalloc. Such manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-53284. No exploit exists. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.15/6.2.2. Affected by this issue is the function devm_kzalloc. 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/msm/dpu: check for null return of devm_kzalloc() in dpu_writeback_init() Because of the possilble failure of devm_kzalloc(), dpu_wb_conn might be NULL and will cause null pointer dereference later. Therefore, it might be better to check it and directly return -ENOMEM. Patchwork: https://patchwork.freedesktop.org/patch/512277/ [DB: fixed typo in commit message]

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2023-53284 since 09/16/2025. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 265651 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53284), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.16 or 6.2.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 3723c4dbcd14cc96771000ce0b0540801e6ba059/5ee51b19855c5dd72aca57b8014f3b70d7798733/21e9a838f505178e109ccb3bf19d7808eb0326f4 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 (265651) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2053). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• F5 F5OS

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
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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