# CVE-2023-53389: drm/mediatek: dp: Only trigger DRM HPD events if bridge is attached

> A null pointer dereference in the MediaTek DisplayPort driver can cause a kernel crash if interrupts trigger before the bridge is attached.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53389, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53389, GHSA-gvwq-vp5c-rpm6, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53389

## What is CVE-2023-53389?

CVE-2023-53389 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 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:

drm/mediatek: dp: Only trigger DRM HPD events if bridge is attached

The MediaTek DisplayPort interface bridge driver starts its interrupts
as soon as its probed. However when the interrupts trigger the bridge
might not have been attached to a DRM device. As drm_helper_hpd_irq_event()
does not check whether the passed in drm_device is valid or not, a NULL
pointer passed in results in a kernel NULL pointer dereference in it.

Check whether the bridge is attached and only trigger an HPD event if
it is.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53389?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53389?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53389 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53389 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53389 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53389 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Sep 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53389 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53389/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53389/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53389
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53389
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53389

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53389/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.