CVE-2023-53209

Kernel crash via unchecked station pointer

Published Sep 15, 2025 · Updated Sep 15, 2025

NULL pointer dereference in Linux mac80211_hwsim before 6.1.42, 6.4.7, and 6.5 allows local users to crash the kernel. mac80211_hwsim_select_tx_link accesses a station object's link data even when its sta argument is NULL. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and the simulator module's affected transmit path, resulting only in service interruption.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.15%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in Linux mac80211_hwsim before 6.1.42, 6.4.7, and 6.5 allows local users to crash the kernel. mac80211_hwsim_select_tx_link accesses a station object's link data even when its sta argument is NULL. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and the simulator module's affected transmit path, resulting only in service interruption.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53209
Published
Sep 15, 2025
Updated
Sep 15, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-476, T1499.004
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=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <0cc80943ef518a1c51a1111e9346d1daf11dd545
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a8a20fed3e05b3a6866c5c58855deaf3c217ccd6
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d0124848c7940aba73492e282506b32a13f2e30e

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <0cc80943ef518a1c51a1111e9346d1daf11dd545; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a8a20fed3e05b3a6866c5c58855deaf3c217ccd6; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d0124848c7940aba73492e282506b32a13f2e30e

Published CVSS scores

5.5CISA ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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.

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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-476NULL Pointer Dereference
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

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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