Kernel crash via mismatched scheduler cleanup
Published May 21, 2024 · Updated May 23, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel AMD GPU fence driver allows attackers to crash the kernel during failed device cleanup. When an AMD GPU ring's scheduler initialization fails, amdgpu_fence_driver_sw_fini() calls drm_sched_fini() without a successful drm_sched_init(), dereferencing uninitialized scheduler state. The crash requires an AMD GPU and a driver probe failure before fence cleanup; public records identify no attacker-controlled way to cause that prerequisite.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel AMD GPU fence driver allows attackers to crash the kernel during failed device cleanup. When an AMD GPU ring's scheduler initialization fails, amdgpu_fence_driver_sw_fini() calls drm_sched_fini() without a successful drm_sched_init(), dereferencing uninitialized scheduler state. The crash requires an AMD GPU and a driver probe failure before fence cleanup; public records identify no attacker-controlled way to cause that prerequisite.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-52738
- Published
- May 21, 2024
- Updated
- May 23, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 21, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 23, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=067f44c8b4590c3f24d21a037578a478590f2175 <2bcbbef9cace772f5b7128b11401c515982de34b
- Affected versionversion=067f44c8b4590c3f24d21a037578a478590f2175 <2e557c8ca2c585bdef591b8503ba83b85f5d0afd
- Affected versionversion=067f44c8b4590c3f24d21a037578a478590f2175 <5ad7bbf3dba5c4a684338df1f285080f2588b535
- Affected versionversion=5.14.10 <5.15
- Affected versionversion=5.15
- Affected versionversion=8ba968ae672b3075794c8086aa164595b0175abe
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo