CVE-2023-53166

Kernel crash via uninitialized charger pointer race

Published Sep 15, 2025 · Updated Sep 15, 2025

A race condition in the bq25890 charger driver in Linux allows local users to crash the kernel during boot-time charger detection. The external-power callback dereferences bq->charger after device_add() can invoke it but before registration assigns that pointer. Reachability requires a bq25890-based system and the narrow boot-time window when charger-type detection overlaps driver initialization, producing a NULL-pointer kernel crash.

CVSS severity4.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.11%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A race condition in the bq25890 charger driver in Linux allows local users to crash the kernel during boot-time charger detection. The external-power callback dereferences bq->charger after device_add() can invoke it but before registration assigns that pointer. Reachability requires a bq25890-based system and the narrow boot-time window when charger-type detection overlaps driver initialization, producing a NULL-pointer kernel crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53166
Published
Sep 15, 2025
Updated
Sep 15, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-362, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 15, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 15, 2025Record 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.18
  2. Affected versionversion=eab25b4f93aa771728127705eb4b235a3b5aad94 <029a443b9b6424170f00f6dd5b7682e682cce92e
  3. Affected versionversion=eab25b4f93aa771728127705eb4b235a3b5aad94 <72c28207c19c2c46fab8ae994aff25e197fb2949
  4. Affected versionversion=eab25b4f93aa771728127705eb4b235a3b5aad94 <9d20fa1982c35697f3f8c4ae0f12791691ae5958

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.18; version=eab25b4f93aa771728127705eb4b235a3b5aad94 <029a443b9b6424170f00f6dd5b7682e682cce92e; version=eab25b4f93aa771728127705eb4b235a3b5aad94 <72c28207c19c2c46fab8ae994aff25e197fb2949; version=eab25b4f93aa771728127705eb4b235a3b5aad94 <9d20fa1982c35697f3f8c4ae0f12791691ae5958

Published CVSS scores

4.7Canonical UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.7NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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

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Your stack

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