CVE-2023-53595 octeontx2-pf: mcs: Fix NULL pointer dereferences

Medium 5.5 Published 4 Oct 2025 Updated 11 May 2026

A NULL pointer dereference in the OcteonTX2 MACsec driver causes a kernel crash during system reboot if a MACsec interface was previously created.

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-2023-53595?

CVE-2023-53595 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 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:

octeontx2-pf: mcs: Fix NULL pointer dereferences

When system is rebooted after creating macsec interface below NULL pointer dereference crashes occurred. This patch fixes those crashes by using correct order of teardown

[ 3324.406942] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 [ 3324.415726] Mem abort info: [ 3324.418510] ESR = 0x96000006 [ 3324.421557] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 3324.426865] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 3324.429913] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 3324.433047] Data abort info: [ 3324.435921] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000006 [ 3324.439748] CM = 0, WnR = 0 .... [ 3324.575915] Call trace: [ 3324.578353] cn10k_mdo_del_secy+0x24/0x180 [ 3324.582440] macsec_common_dellink+0xec/0x120 [ 3324.586788] macsec_notify+0x17c/0x1c0 [ 3324.590529] raw_notifier_call_chain+0x50/0x70 [ 3324.594965] call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x34/0x7c [ 3324.599921] rollback_registered_many+0x354/0x5bc [ 3324.604616] unregister_netdevice_queue+0x88/0x10c [ 3324.609399] unregister_netdev+0x20/0x30 [ 3324.613313] otx2_remove+0x8c/0x310 [ 3324.616794] pci_device_shutdown+0x30/0x70 [ 3324.620882] device_shutdown+0x11c/0x204

[ 966.664930] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 [ 966.673712] Mem abort info: [ 966.676497] ESR = 0x96000006 [ 966.679543] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 966.684848] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 966.687895] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 966.691028] Data abort info: [ 966.693900] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000006 [ 966.697729] CM = 0, WnR = 0 [ 966.833467] Call trace: [ 966.835904] cn10k_mdo_stop+0x20/0xa0 [ 966.839557] macsec_dev_stop+0xe8/0x11c [ 966.843384] __dev_close_many+0xbc/0x140 [ 966.847298] dev_close_many+0x84/0x120 [ 966.851039] rollback_registered_many+0x114/0x5bc [ 966.855735] unregister_netdevice_many.part.0+0x14/0xa0 [ 966.860952] unregister_netdevice_many+0x18/0x24 [ 966.865560] macsec_notify+0x1ac/0x1c0 [ 966.869303] raw_notifier_call_chain+0x50/0x70 [ 966.873738] call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x34/0x7c [ 966.878694] rollback_registered_many+0x354/0x5bc [ 966.883390] unregister_netdevice_queue+0x88/0x10c [ 966.888173] unregister_netdev+0x20/0x30 [ 966.892090] otx2_remove+0x8c/0x310 [ 966.895571] pci_device_shutdown+0x30/0x70 [ 966.899660] device_shutdown+0x11c/0x204 [ 966.903574] __do_sys_reboot+0x208/0x290 [ 966.907487] __arm64_sys_reboot+0x20/0x30 [ 966.911489] el0_svc_handler+0x80/0x1c0 [ 966.915316] el0_svc+0x8/0x180 [ 966.918362] Code: f9400000 f9400a64 91220014 f94b3403 (f9400060) [ 966.924448] ---[ end trace 341778e799c3d8d7 ]---

Weakness: CWE-476

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53595?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2023-53595?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2023-53595 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53595 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-53595, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53595, GHSA-9jxv-7cgw-j3gc, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53595.