CVE-2023-53382

Kernel crash via stale SMCRv2 link assignment

Published Sep 18, 2025 · Updated Sep 18, 2025

NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel releases beginning with 5.16 allows local users to crash the kernel during an SMC handshake. After SMCRv2 buffer setup fails, smc_listen_work retains the old conn->lnk while assigning an SMCRv1 link group, so smc_clc_send_confirm_accept indexes an uninitialized memory-region pointer. Reachability requires an SMC workload, compatible RDMA hardware, and a failed SMCRv2 setup followed by SMCRv1 fallback; the resulting kernel oops can interrupt the host.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.29%
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 affected Linux kernel releases beginning with 5.16 allows local users to crash the kernel during an SMC handshake. After SMCRv2 buffer setup fails, smc_listen_work retains the old conn->lnk while assigning an SMCRv1 link group, so smc_clc_send_confirm_accept indexes an uninitialized memory-region pointer. Reachability requires an SMC workload, compatible RDMA hardware, and a failed SMCRv2 setup followed by SMCRv1 fallback; the resulting kernel oops can interrupt the host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53382
Published
Sep 18, 2025
Updated
Sep 18, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-476, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 18, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 18, 2025Record 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.16
  2. Affected versionversion=e49300a6bf6218c835403545e9356141a6340181 <35112271672ae98f45df7875244a4e33aa215e31
  3. Affected versionversion=e49300a6bf6218c835403545e9356141a6340181 <9540765d1882d15497d880096de99fafabcfa08c
  4. Affected versionversion=e49300a6bf6218c835403545e9356141a6340181 <d33be18917ffe69865dfed18b0a67b0dee0b47d7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.16; version=e49300a6bf6218c835403545e9356141a6340181 <35112271672ae98f45df7875244a4e33aa215e31; version=e49300a6bf6218c835403545e9356141a6340181 <9540765d1882d15497d880096de99fafabcfa08c; version=e49300a6bf6218c835403545e9356141a6340181 <d33be18917ffe69865dfed18b0a67b0dee0b47d7

Published CVSS scores

5.5CISA ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5CanonicalCVSS: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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 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
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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