CVE-2023-54053 wifi: iwlwifi: pcie: fix possible NULL pointer dereference
A local attacker can cause a kernel crash in the iwlwifi driver by triggering a NULL pointer dereference during device removal after a failed probe.
- 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-2023-54053?
CVE-2023-54053 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 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:
wifi: iwlwifi: pcie: fix possible NULL pointer dereference
It is possible that iwl_pci_probe() will fail and free the trans, then afterwards iwl_pci_remove() will be called and crash by trying to access trans which is already freed, fix it.
iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Detected crf-id 0xa5a5a5a2, cnv-id 0xa5a5a5a2 wfpm id 0xa5a5a5a2 iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Can't find a correct rfid for crf id 0x5a2 ... BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000028 ... RIP: 0010:iwl_pci_remove+0x12/0x30 [iwlwifi] pci_device_remove+0x3e/0xb0 device_release_driver_internal+0x103/0x1f0 driver_detach+0x4c/0x90 bus_remove_driver+0x5c/0xd0 driver_unregister+0x31/0x50 pci_unregister_driver+0x40/0x90 iwl_pci_unregister_driver+0x15/0x20 [iwlwifi] __exit_compat+0x9/0x98 [iwlwifi] __x64_sys_delete_module+0x147/0x260
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54053?
How do I fix CVE-2023-54053?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2023-54053 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54053 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-54053, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54053, GHSA-fp97-j955-wgw4, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54053.