CVE-2023-54279

Boot-time crash via empty firmware environment

Published Dec 30, 2025 · Updated Dec 30, 2025

Null pointer dereference in the MIPS firmware parser in Linux allows attackers to crash the kernel during boot via an empty environment. The fw_getenv function reads the first firmware environment entry and passes it to strchr without checking whether the legal list is empty. Reachability requires a MIPS system whose firmware supplies an empty environment; the resulting null dereference interrupts boot without reported data access or code execution.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.23%
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 MIPS firmware parser in Linux allows attackers to crash the kernel during boot via an empty environment. The fw_getenv function reads the first firmware environment entry and passes it to strchr without checking whether the legal list is empty. Reachability requires a MIPS system whose firmware supplies an empty environment; the resulting null dereference interrupts boot without reported data access or code execution.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-54279
Published
Dec 30, 2025
Updated
Dec 30, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
Unavailable
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 30, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 30, 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=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <0f91290774c798199ba4b8df93de5c3156b5163d
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <3ef93b7bd9e042db240843f24a80e14da38c6830
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <47e61cadc7a5f3dffd42d2d6fda81be163f1ab82
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <830181ddced5a05a711dc9da8043203b1f33a77e
  5. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a6b54af407873227caef6262e992f5422cdcb6ae
  6. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <ad79828f133e98585ab2236cad04a55eb7141bbe
  7. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <aeed787bbbbe1b842beec9a065a36c915226f704
  8. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <ee1809ed7bc456a72dc8410b475b73021a3a68d5
  9. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <f334b31625683418aaa2a335470eec950a95a254

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorUnavailable in this record.
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <0f91290774c798199ba4b8df93de5c3156b5163d; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <3ef93b7bd9e042db240843f24a80e14da38c6830; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <47e61cadc7a5f3dffd42d2d6fda81be163f1ab82; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <830181ddced5a05a711dc9da8043203b1f33a77e; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a6b54af407873227caef6262e992f5422cdcb6ae; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <ad79828f133e98585ab2236cad04a55eb7141bbe; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <aeed787bbbbe1b842beec9a065a36c915226f704; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <ee1809ed7bc456a72dc8410b475b73021a3a68d5; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <f334b31625683418aaa2a335470eec950a95a254

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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)
VectorUnavailable
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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