What is CVE-2023-53239?

CVE-2023-53239 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 5.3 onward and patched in 5.4.235, 5.10.173, 5.15.99 and others. CVE-2023-53239 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53239?

CVE-2023-53239 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-2023-53239?

Yes, CVE-2023-53239 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.235, 5.10.173, 5.15.99 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.3 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2023-53239 actively exploited?

CVE-2023-53239 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-2023-53239

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/msm/mdp5: Add check for kzalloc As kzalloc may fail and return NULL pointer, it should be better to check the return value in order to avoid the NULL pointer dereference. Patchwork: https://patchwork.freedesktop.org/patch/514154/

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-09-15

Last modified 2026-01-14

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-2023-53239 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 5.3 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.4.235, 5.10.173, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3, 6.3 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 5.3

Fixed in

✓ 5.4.235 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.173 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.99 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.16 6.1.x ✓ 6.2.3 6.2.x ✓ 6.3

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2023-53239 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/13fcfcb2a9a4787fe4e49841d728f6f2e9fa6911
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37ff771ed008b9cbffd0eab77985968364694ce3
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3975ea6eaffe26aec634b5c473e51dc76e73af62
Patch

6 patch commits total View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2023-53239

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-09-15

Modified 2026-01-14

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53239?

CVE-2023-53239 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 5.3 onward and has been patched in 5.4.235, 5.10.173, 5.15.99 and others. CVE-2023-53239 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-53239?

CVE-2023-53239 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-2023-53239?

Yes — CVE-2023-53239 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.235, 5.10.173, 5.15.99 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.3 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2023-53239 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2023-53239 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (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. View CWE-476 on MITRE CWE →