Linux Kernel up to 6.1.17/6.2.4 getsockname null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.17/6.2.4. The impacted element is the function getsockname. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-53643. There is no exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.17/6.2.4. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function getsockname. 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: nvme-tcp: don't access released socket during error recovery While the error recovery work is temporarily failing reconnect attempts, running the 'nvme list' command causes a kernel NULL pointer dereference by calling getsockname() with a released socket. During error recovery work, the nvme tcp socket is released and a new one created, so it is not safe to access the socket without proper check.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53643 since 10/07/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 6.1.18 or 6.2.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch fe2d9e54165dadaa0d0cc3355c0be9c3e129fa0d/d82f762db4776fa11de88018f0f5de2d5db72a72/76d54bf20cdcc1ed7569a89885e09636e9a8d71d 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 vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2229). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• Dell NetWorker

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
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2
• 6.2.3
• 6.2.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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