CVE-2023-53666

Local crash via unchecked MBHC initialization failure

Published Oct 7, 2025 · Updated Oct 7, 2025

Null-pointer dereference in the Linux kernel wcd938x codec in 5.15 allows local users to crash the system during audio jack setup. The driver retains a failed MBHC initialization result without checking it, then wcd938x_codec_set_jack passes the error pointer to wcd_mbhc_start. Reachability requires WCD938x audio hardware and an MBHC initialization failure before jack configuration; the reported consequence is a kernel paging fault and system crash.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.14%
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 the Linux kernel wcd938x codec in 5.15 allows local users to crash the system during audio jack setup. The driver retains a failed MBHC initialization result without checking it, then wcd938x_codec_set_jack passes the error pointer to wcd_mbhc_start. Reachability requires WCD938x audio hardware and an MBHC initialization failure before jack configuration; the reported consequence is a kernel paging fault and system crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53666
Published
Oct 7, 2025
Updated
Oct 7, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 7, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 7, 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=5.15
  2. Affected versionversion=bcee7ed09b8e70b65d5c04f5d1acd2cf4213c2f3 <31ee704c84c4bf4df8521ef1478c161f710d0f94
  3. Affected versionversion=bcee7ed09b8e70b65d5c04f5d1acd2cf4213c2f3 <5a34d252052b5da743ef82591c860fc947384d4e
  4. Affected versionversion=bcee7ed09b8e70b65d5c04f5d1acd2cf4213c2f3 <7dfae2631bfbdebecd35fe7b472ab3cc95c9ed66
  5. Affected versionversion=bcee7ed09b8e70b65d5c04f5d1acd2cf4213c2f3 <bb241ae928c694e365c30c888c9eb02dcc812dfd

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.15; version=bcee7ed09b8e70b65d5c04f5d1acd2cf4213c2f3 <31ee704c84c4bf4df8521ef1478c161f710d0f94; version=bcee7ed09b8e70b65d5c04f5d1acd2cf4213c2f3 <5a34d252052b5da743ef82591c860fc947384d4e; version=bcee7ed09b8e70b65d5c04f5d1acd2cf4213c2f3 <7dfae2631bfbdebecd35fe7b472ab3cc95c9ed66; version=bcee7ed09b8e70b65d5c04f5d1acd2cf4213c2f3 <bb241ae928c694e365c30c888c9eb02dcc812dfd

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS: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

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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

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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