Linux Kernel up to 6.2.2 vfio iommufd_ctx_put null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.2.2. Affected by this issue is the function iommufd_ctx_put of the component vfio. Performing a manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-54174. No exploit is available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.2.2. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function iommufd_ctx_put of the component vfio. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as 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. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vfio: Fix NULL pointer dereference caused by uninitialized group->iommufd group->iommufd is not initialized for the iommufd_ctx_put() [20018.331541] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 [20018.377508] RIP: 0010:iommufd_ctx_put+0x5/0x10 [iommufd] ... [20018.476483] Call Trace: [20018.479214] <TASK> [20018.481555] vfio_group_fops_unl_ioctl+0x506/0x690 [vfio] [20018.487586] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x6a/0xb0 [20018.491773] ? trace_hardirqs_on+0xc5/0xe0 [20018.496347] do_syscall_64+0x67/0x90 [20018.500340] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0xb5

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-54174 since 12/30/2025. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 280801 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-54174), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.2.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 8f24eef598ce7cce0bbefe0ec642bcc031d0f528/d649c34cb916b015fdcb487e51409fcc5caeca8d 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 (280801). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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