Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2023-54321)

Summary

Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2023-54321). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Mitigation: upgrade to 5.10.249, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3 or later.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

driver core: fix potential null-ptr-deref in device_add()

I got the following null-ptr-deref report while doing fault injection test:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000058
CPU: 2 PID: 278 Comm: 37-i2c-ds2482 Tainted: G B W N 6.1.0-rc3+
RIP: 0010:klist_put+0x2d/0xd0
Call Trace:

klist_remove+0xf1/0x1c0
device_release_driver_internal+0x196/0x210
bus_remove_device+0x1bd/0x240
device_add+0xd3d/0x1100
w1_add_master_device+0x476/0x490 [wire]
ds2482_probe+0x303/0x3e0 [ds2482]

This is how it happened:

w1_alloc_dev()
// The dev->driver is set to w1_master_driver.
memcpy(&dev->dev, device, sizeof(struct device));
device_add()
bus_add_device()
dpm_sysfs_add() // It fails, calls bus_remove_device.

// error path
bus_remove_device()
  // The dev->driver is not null, but driver is not bound.
  __device_release_driver()
    klist_remove(&dev->p->knode_driver) <-- It causes null-ptr-deref.

// normal path
bus_probe_device() // It's not called yet.
  device_bind_driver()

If dev->driver is set, in the error path after calling bus_add_device()
in device_add(), bus_remove_device() is called, then the device will be
detached from driver. But device_bind_driver() is not called yet, so it
causes null-ptr-deref while access the 'knode_driver'. To fix this, set
dev->driver to null in the error path before calling bus_remove_device().

Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD OSV

Auto-generated summary

Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.

A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-54321 has been found in Kernel.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
What to do: upgrade Kernel to 5.10.249, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Kernel CVE-2023-54321" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2023-54321 (Kernel)
Patched: 5.10.249, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in Kernel.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Kernel.

🔥 Severity

Severity: ?. Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.

🔧 How to fix

Update to 5.10.249, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'Kernel' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.

Response actions

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

1
Identify exposure identify
```
grep -r 'Kernel' . | grep -v node_modules
```
リポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で Kernel を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。
2
Apply patch patch
```
Upgrade Kernel to 5.10.249, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3
```
ステージング環境で 5.10.249, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
3
Post-deployment verification verify
```
Confirm patched version is live in production
```
パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

Affected packages

Linux Kernel

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2.6.26"},{"fixed":"5.10.249"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"5.11.0"},{"fixed":"5.15.99"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"5.16.0"},{"fixed":"6.1.16"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.2.0"},{"fixed":"6.2.3"}]}]

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54321 linux Fixed in: 5.10.249-1
Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54321 linux