Kernel crash via unchecked NFC buffer allocation
Published Oct 22, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel NFC NCI subsystem before 6.6 allows local users to crash the kernel through memory exhaustion. In net/nfc/nci/spi.c, send_acknowledge() passes an unchecked NULL result from nci_skb_alloc() to skb_push() when alloc_skb() fails. Reaching the fault requires local access, the NFC NCI-over-SPI path, and enough memory pressure to make the kernel allocation fail; impact is limited to service interruption.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel NFC NCI subsystem before 6.6 allows local users to crash the kernel through memory exhaustion. In net/nfc/nci/spi.c, send_acknowledge() passes an unchecked NULL result from nci_skb_alloc() to skb_push() when alloc_skb() fails. Reaching the fault requires local access, the NFC NCI-over-SPI path, and enough memory pressure to make the kernel allocation fail; impact is limited to service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-52919
- Published
- Oct 22, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 22, 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
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=3.11
- Affected versionversion=391d8a2da787257aeaf952c974405b53926e3fb3 <2b2edf089df3a69f0072c6e71563394c5a94e62e
- Affected versionversion=391d8a2da787257aeaf952c974405b53926e3fb3 <5622592f8f74ae3e594379af02e64ea84772d0dd
- Affected versionversion=391d8a2da787257aeaf952c974405b53926e3fb3 <76050b0cc5a72e0c7493287b7e18e1cb9e3c4612
- Affected versionversion=391d8a2da787257aeaf952c974405b53926e3fb3 <7937609cd387246aed994e81aa4fa951358fba41
- Affected versionversion=391d8a2da787257aeaf952c974405b53926e3fb3 <bb6cacc439ddd2cd51227ab193f4f91cfc7f014f
- Affected versionversion=391d8a2da787257aeaf952c974405b53926e3fb3 <c95fa5b20fe03609e0894656fa43c18045b5097e
- Affected versionversion=391d8a2da787257aeaf952c974405b53926e3fb3 <d7dbdbe3800a908eecd4975c31be47dd45e2104a
- Affected versionversion=391d8a2da787257aeaf952c974405b53926e3fb3 <ffdc881f68073ff86bf21afb9bb954812e8278be
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Weakness, pattern, technique
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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