What is CVE-2023-52994?

CVE-2023-52994 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476), affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.0.16 onward and patched in 6.1 and 6.1.9. CVE-2023-52994 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-52994?

CVE-2023-52994 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2023-52994?

Yes, CVE-2023-52994 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1 and 6.1.9. If you are running Linux kernel 6.0.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2023-52994 actively exploited?

CVE-2023-52994 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476.html

CVE-2023-52994

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: acpi: Fix suspend with Xen PV Commit f1e525009493 ("x86/boot: Skip realmode init code when running as Xen PV guest") missed one code path accessing real_mode_header, leading to dereferencing NULL when suspending the system under Xen: [ 348.284004] PM: suspend entry (deep) [ 348.289532] Filesystems sync: 0.005 seconds [ 348.291545] Freezing user space processes ... (elapsed 0.000 seconds) done. [ 348.292457] OOM killer disabled. [ 348.292462] Freezing remaining freezable tasks ... (elapsed 0.104 seconds) done. [ 348.396612] printk: Suspending console(s) (use no_console_suspend to debug) [ 348.749228] PM: suspend devices took 0.352 seconds [ 348.769713] ACPI: EC: interrupt blocked [ 348.816077] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 000000000000001c [ 348.816080] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 348.816081] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 348.816083] PGD 0 P4D 0 [ 348.816086] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI [ 348.816089] CPU: 0 PID: 6764 Comm: systemd-sleep Not tainted 6.1.3-1.fc32.qubes.x86_64 #1 [ 348.816092] Hardware name: Star Labs StarBook/StarBook, BIOS 8.01 07/03/2022 [ 348.816093] RIP: e030:acpi_get_wakeup_address+0xc/0x20 Fix that by adding an optional acpi callback allowing to skip setting the wakeup address, as in the Xen PV case this will be handled by the hypervisor anyway.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-03-27

Last modified 2025-10-01

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-476

CVE-2023-52994 is a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability

What is NULL Pointer Dereference?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.0.16, 6.1.2 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1, 6.1.9 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.0.16 ≥ 6.1.2

Fixed in

✓ 6.1 6.1.x ✓ 6.1.9 6.1.x

References

2 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b96903b7fc8c82ddfd92df4cdd83db3e567da0a5

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fe0ba8c23f9a35b0307eb662f16dd3a75fcdae41

Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2023-52994

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-03-27

Modified 2025-10-01

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-52994?

CVE-2023-52994 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.0.16 onward and has been patched in 6.1 and 6.1.9. CVE-2023-52994 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-52994?

CVE-2023-52994 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2023-52994?

Yes. CVE-2023-52994 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1 and 6.1.9. If you are running Linux kernel 6.0.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2023-52994 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2023-52994 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.