Linux Kernel up to 6.1.17/6.2.4 soc kexec null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.17/6.2.4. It has been classified as critical. The impacted element is the function kexec of the component soc. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2023-54059. There is no available exploit. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

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 kexec of the component soc. 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: soc: mediatek: mtk-svs: Enable the IRQ later If the system does not come from reset (like when is booted via kexec()), the peripheral might triger an IRQ before the data structures are initialised. [ 0.227710] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000f08 [ 0.227913] Call trace: [ 0.227918] svs_isr+0x8c/0x538

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-54059 since 12/24/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 279844 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54059), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.18 or 6.2.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 6b99ebd30d65ee5ab8e8dd1d378550911eff5e4f/66ea96629bbccf1b483be506f3daff754069cdd3/b74952aba6c3f47e7f2c5165abaeefa44c377140 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 (279844) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2929). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

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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Entryinfo

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

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