Host crash via xHCI device teardown race
Published Aug 21, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
A race condition in xHCI on affected Linux kernel branches beginning at 4.15 allows local users to crash the host. xhci_free_dev() can free xhci->devs[slot_id] while xhci_kill_endpoint_urbs() traverses its endpoints, dereferencing a device pointer that has become null. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and a suddenly dying xHCI host; the record reports no data exposure or modification.
Summary
What happened
A race condition in xHCI on affected Linux kernel branches beginning at 4.15 allows local users to crash the host. xhci_free_dev() can free xhci->devs[slot_id] while xhci_kill_endpoint_urbs() traverses its endpoints, dereferencing a device pointer that has become null. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and a suddenly dying xHCI host; the record reports no data exposure or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-52898
- Published
- Aug 21, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 21, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 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=11ec7588a10d4bc2e1e385ac565d2166d375fba1 <081105213ff6f661c114781d469233c7d0e09c2e
- Affected versionversion=11ec7588a10d4bc2e1e385ac565d2166d375fba1 <133b902378e4acbd824c29dd0d48570ad596e368
- Affected versionversion=11ec7588a10d4bc2e1e385ac565d2166d375fba1 <6fac4b5cecb3928a0a81069aaa815a2edc8dd5a1
- Affected versionversion=11ec7588a10d4bc2e1e385ac565d2166d375fba1 <a2bc47c43e70cf904b1af49f76d572326c08bca7
- Affected versionversion=11ec7588a10d4bc2e1e385ac565d2166d375fba1 <c462ac871f49753eca86bb960f573b993976a5ea
- Affected versionversion=11ec7588a10d4bc2e1e385ac565d2166d375fba1 <ea2ee5e9991caf74e0604f994c1831a5867055b2
- Affected versionversion=4.15
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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