VDB-326599 · CVE-2023-53470 · Nessus 269637

Linux Kernel up to 5.15.111/6.1.28/6.2.15/6.3.2 ionic devlink_alloc null pointer dereference

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5.4	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.111/6.1.28/6.2.15/6.3.2. It has been rated as critical. This impacts the function devlink_alloc of the component ionic. This manipulation causes an unknown weakness. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-53470. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.111/6.1.28/6.2.15/6.3.2. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function devlink_alloc of the component ionic. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is 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. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ionic: catch failure from devlink_alloc Add a check for NULL on the alloc return. If devlink_alloc() fails and we try to use devlink_priv() on the NULL return, the kernel gets very unhappy and panics. With this fix, the driver load will still fail, but at least it won't panic the kernel.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53470 since 10/01/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 269637 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53470), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.15.112, 6.1.29, 6.2.16 or 6.3.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch c177dd465f5c1e5f242cdb9258826c591c257e9a/0d02efe7f25158c93146e3bb827bc7bb3cd5e71a/5325f50de5b1433b27dda7ccff5cb7283722a3f1/0020c16c8af7f4bc9503a2088fb30793b6771fac/4a54903ff68ddb33b6463c94b4eb37fc584ef760 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 (269637) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2187). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

Amazon Linux 2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
SUSE Linux
Oracle Linux
Open Source Linux Kernel
Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

Operating System

Vendor

Linux

Name

Kernel

Version

License

open-source

Website

Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.4

VulDB Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Temp Score: 5.3
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
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Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒