Linux Kernel up to 6.1.41/6.4.6 Bluetooth iso_conn null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.41/6.4.6. This affects the function iso_conn of the component Bluetooth. Such manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-54164. 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 6.1.41/6.4.6. Affected by this issue is the function iso_conn of the component Bluetooth. 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: Bluetooth: ISO: fix iso_conn related locking and validity issues sk->sk_state indicates whether iso_pi(sk)->conn is valid. Operations that check/update sk_state and access conn should hold lock_sock, otherwise they can race. The order of taking locks is hci_dev_lock > lock_sock > iso_conn_lock, which is how it is in connect/disconnect_cfm -> iso_conn_del -> iso_chan_del. Fix locking in iso_connect_cis/bis and sendmsg/recvmsg to take lock_sock around updating sk_state and conn. iso_conn_del must not occur during iso_connect_cis/bis, as it frees the iso_conn. Hold hdev->lock longer to prevent that. This should not reintroduce the issue fixed in commit 241f51931c35 ("Bluetooth: ISO: Avoid circular locking dependency"), since the we acquire locks in order. We retain the fix in iso_sock_connect to release lock_sock before iso_connect_* acquires hdev->lock. Similarly for commit 6a5ad251b7cd ("Bluetooth: ISO: Fix possible circular locking dependency"). We retain the fix in iso_conn_ready to not acquire iso_conn_lock before lock_sock. iso_conn_add shall return iso_conn with valid hcon. Make it so also when reusing an old CIS connection waiting for disconnect timeout (see __iso_sock_close where conn->hcon is set to NULL). Trace with iso_conn_del after iso_chan_add in iso_connect_cis: =============================================================== iso_sock_create:771: sock 00000000be9b69b7 iso_sock_init:693: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_bind:827: sk 000000004dff667e 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 type 1 iso_sock_setsockopt:1289: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_setsockopt:1289: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_setsockopt:1289: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_connect:875: sk 000000004dff667e iso_connect_cis:353: 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 -> 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da hci_get_route:1199: 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 -> 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da hci_conn_add:1005: hci0 dst 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da iso_conn_add:140: hcon 000000007b65d182 conn 00000000daf8625e __iso_chan_add:214: conn 00000000daf8625e iso_connect_cfm:1700: hcon 000000007b65d182 bdaddr 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da status 12 iso_conn_del:187: hcon 000000007b65d182 conn 00000000daf8625e, err 16 iso_sock_clear_timer:117: sock 000000004dff667e state 3 <Note: sk_state is BT_BOUND (3), so iso_connect_cis is still running at this point> iso_chan_del:153: sk 000000004dff667e, conn 00000000daf8625e, err 16 hci_conn_del:1151: hci0 hcon 000000007b65d182 handle 65535 hci_conn_unlink:1102: hci0: hcon 000000007b65d182 hci_chan_list_flush:2780: hcon 000000007b65d182 iso_sock_getsockopt:1376: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getsockopt:1376: sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_getname:1070: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e iso_sock_shutdown:1434: sock 00000000be9b69b7, sk 000000004dff667e, how 1 __iso_sock_close:632: sk 000000004dff667e state 5 socket 00000000be9b69b7 <Note: sk_state is BT_CONNECT (5), even though iso_chan_del sets BT_CLOSED (6). Only iso_connect_cis sets it to BT_CONNECT, so it must be that iso_chan_del occurred between iso_chan_add and end of iso_connect_cis.> BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 PGD 8000000006467067 P4D 8000000006467067 PUD 3f5f067 PMD 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.2-1.fc38 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:__iso_sock_close (net/bluetooth/iso.c:664) bluetooth =============================================================== Trace with iso_conn_del before iso_chan_add in iso_connect_cis: =============================================================== iso_connect_cis:356: 70:1a:b8:98:ff:a2 -> 28:3d:c2:4a:7e:da ... iso_conn_add:140: hcon 0000000093bc551f conn 00000000768ae504 hci_dev_put:1487: hci0 orig refcnt 21 hci_event_packet:7607: hci0: e ---truncated---

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2023-54164 since 12/30/2025. The exploitation is known to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 281527 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54164), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.42 or 6.4.7 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch e969bfed84c1f88dc722a678ee08488e86f0ec1a/88ad50f2b843a510bd7c922c0a4e2484aff9d645/d40ae85ee62e3666f45bc61864b22121346f88ef 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 Tenable (281527). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.1.20
• 6.1.21
• 6.1.22
• 6.1.23
• 6.1.24
• 6.1.25
• 6.1.26
• 6.1.27
• 6.1.28
• 6.1.29
• 6.1.30
• 6.1.31
• 6.1.32
• 6.1.33
• 6.1.34
• 6.1.35
• 6.1.36
• 6.1.37
• 6.1.38
• 6.1.39
• 6.1.40
• 6.1.41
• 6.4.0
• 6.4.1
• 6.4.2
• 6.4.3
• 6.4.4
• 6.4.5
• 6.4.6

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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