CVE-2023-54198

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tty: fix out-of-bounds access in tty_driver_lookup_tty() When specifying an invalid console= device like console=tty3270, tty_driver_lookup_tty() returns the tty struct without checking whether index is a valid number. To reproduce: qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -nographic -serial mon:stdio \ -kernel ../linux-build-x86/arch/x86/boot/bzImage \ -append "console=ttyS0 console=tty3270" This crashes with: [ 0.770599] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000ef [ 0.771265] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 0.771773] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 0.772609] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI [ 0.774878] RIP: 0010:tty_open+0x268/0x6f0 [ 0.784013] chrdev_open+0xbd/0x230 [ 0.784444] ? cdev_device_add+0x80/0x80 [ 0.784920] do_dentry_open+0x1e0/0x410 [ 0.785389] path_openat+0xca9/0x1050 [ 0.785813] do_filp_open+0xaa/0x150 [ 0.786240] file_open_name+0x133/0x1b0 [ 0.786746] filp_open+0x27/0x50 [ 0.787244] console_on_rootfs+0x14/0x4d [ 0.787800] kernel_init_freeable+0x1e4/0x20d [ 0.788383] ? rest_init+0xc0/0xc0 [ 0.788881] kernel_init+0x11/0x120 [ 0.789356] ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-12-30
Last modified 2026-08-04
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.8

out of 10
High
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 2.6.28 and later are affected. Fixed in 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.235, 5.10.173, 5.15.100, 6.1.18, 6.2.5, 6.3 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 2.6.28
Fixed in
✓ 4.14.308 4.14.x ✓ 4.19.276 4.19.x ✓ 5.4.235 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.173 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.100 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.18 6.1.x ✓ 6.2.5 6.2.x ✓ 6.3

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2023-54198?

    CVE-2023-54198 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 2.6.28 onward and has been patched in 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.235 and others. CVE-2023-54198 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-54198?

    CVE-2023-54198 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2023-54198?

    Yes. CVE-2023-54198 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.14.308, 4.19.276, 5.4.235 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.28 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2023-54198 actively exploited?

    No. CVE-2023-54198 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.