# CVE-2023-53472: pwm: lpc32xx: Remove handling of PWM channels

> A null pointer dereference in the LPC32xx PWM driver can cause a kernel crash, requiring a patch to the Linux kernel.

- **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:** 1 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53472, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53472, GHSA-3g53-3cmj-qjrh, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53472

## What is CVE-2023-53472?

CVE-2023-53472 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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:

pwm: lpc32xx: Remove handling of PWM channels

Because LPC32xx PWM controllers have only a single output which is
registered as the only PWM device/channel per controller, it is known in
advance that pwm->hwpwm value is always 0. On basis of this fact
simplify the code by removing operations with pwm->hwpwm, there is no
controls which require channel number as input.

Even though I wasn't aware at the time when I forward ported that patch,
this fixes a null pointer dereference as lpc32xx->chip.pwms is NULL
before devm_pwmchip_add() is called.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53472?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53472?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53472 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53472 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-2023-53472 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53472 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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-2023-53472 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-2023-53472/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53472/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53472
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53472
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53472

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53472/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.