CVE-2023-53244 media: pci: tw68: Fix null-ptr-deref bug in buf prepare and finish
A null pointer dereference in the tw68 PCI media driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash by triggering a buffer allocation failure.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-53244?
CVE-2023-53244 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
media: pci: tw68: Fix null-ptr-deref bug in buf prepare and finish
When the driver calls tw68_risc_buffer() to prepare the buffer, the function call dma_alloc_coherent may fail, resulting in a empty buffer buf->cpu. Later when we free the buffer or access the buffer, null ptr deref is triggered.
This bug is similar to the following one: https://git.linuxtv.org/media_stage.git/commit/?id=2b064d91440b33fba5b452f2d1b31f13ae911d71.
We believe the bug can be also dynamically triggered from user side. Similarly, we fix this by checking the return value of tw68_risc_buffer() and the value of buf->cpu before buffer free.
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53244?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2023-53244?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2023-53244 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53244 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53244, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53244, GHSA-7rcg-54w2-5p8p, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53244, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53244.