Linux Kernel up to 6.5.2 crypto af_alg_alloc_areq null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.5.2. Affected by this vulnerability is the function af_alg_alloc_areq of the component crypto. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2023-53599. There is not any exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.5.2. Affected by this vulnerability is the function af_alg_alloc_areq of the component crypto. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. 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. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: af_alg - Fix missing initialisation affecting gcm-aes-s390 Fix af_alg_alloc_areq() to initialise areq->first_rsgl.sgl.sgt.sgl to point to the scatterlist array in areq->first_rsgl.sgl.sgl. Without this, the gcm-aes-s390 driver will oops when it tries to do gcm_walk_start() on req->dst because req->dst is set to the value of areq->first_rsgl.sgl.sgl by _aead_recvmsg() calling aead_request_set_crypt(). The problem comes if an empty ciphertext is passed: the loop in af_alg_get_rsgl() just passes straight out and doesn't set areq->first_rsgl up. This isn't a problem on x86_64 using gcmaes_crypt_by_sg() because, as far as I can tell, that ignores req->dst and only uses req->src[*]. [*] Is this a bug in aesni-intel_glue.c? The s390x oops looks something like: Unable to handle kernel pointer dereference in virtual kernel address space Failing address: 0000000a00000000 TEID: 0000000a00000803 Fault in home space mode while using kernel ASCE. AS:00000000a43a0007 R3:0000000000000024 Oops: 003b ilc:2 [#1] SMP ... Call Trace: [<000003ff7fc3d47e>] gcm_walk_start+0x16/0x28 [aes_s390] [<00000000a2a342f2>] crypto_aead_decrypt+0x9a/0xb8 [<00000000a2a60888>] aead_recvmsg+0x478/0x698 [<00000000a2e519a0>] sock_recvmsg+0x70/0xb0 [<00000000a2e51a56>] sock_read_iter+0x76/0xa0 [<00000000a273e066>] vfs_read+0x26e/0x2a8 [<00000000a273e8c4>] ksys_read+0xbc/0x100 [<00000000a311d808>] __do_syscall+0x1d0/0x1f8 [<00000000a312ff30>] system_call+0x70/0x98 Last Breaking-Event-Address: [<000003ff7fc3e6b4>] gcm_aes_crypt+0x104/0xa68 [aes_s390]

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53599 since 10/04/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 6.5.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 2c9d205040d7c0eaccc473917f9b0bb0a923e440/6a4b8aa0a916b39a39175584c07222434fa6c6ef 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 EUVD (EUVD-2023-60009) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2194). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Google Cloud Platform
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• NetApp ActiveIQ Unified Manager
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• Dell NetWorker

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.5.0
• 6.5.1
• 6.5.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Discussion