CVE-2023-53472: linux kernel Null Dereference — Fix

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: pwm: lpc32xx: Remove handling of PWM channels Because LPC32xx PWM controllers have only a single output which is registered as the only PWM device/channel per controller, it is known in advance that pwm->hwpwm value is always 0. On basis of this fact simplify the code by removing operations with pwm->hwpwm, there is no controls which require channel number as input. Even though I wasn't aware at the time when I forward ported that patch, this fixes a null pointer dereference as lpc32xx->chip.pwms is NULL before devm_pwmchip_add() is called.

Is your site exposed to CVE-2023-53472?

Run a free security scan — no signup, results in seconds.

CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-476 CWE-476

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
linux	linux_kernel	4.9.284 — 4.10
linux	linux_kernel	4.14.248 — 4.14.326
linux	linux_kernel	4.19.208 — 4.19.295
linux	linux_kernel	5.4.149 — 5.4.257
linux	linux_kernel	5.10.69 — 5.10.195
linux	linux_kernel	5.14.8 — 5.15.132
linux	linux_kernel	5.16 — 6.1.54
linux	linux_kernel	6.2 — 6.5.4

References

Advisories & Patches

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/04301da4d87067a989f70ee56942bf9d97cd2a45 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4aae44f65827f0213a7361cf9c32cfe06114473f https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/523f6268e86552a048975749251184c4e9a4b38f https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5e22217c11424ef958ba28d03ff7167b4d7a8914 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2d9d884e84bfd37892219b1f55847f36d8e9901 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a9a505f5b39d8fff1a55963a5e524c84639e98b2 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/abd9b2ee4047ccd980decbf26d61f9637604b1d5 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e3a0ddbaf7f1f9ffc070718b417461ced3268758

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-53472? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: pwm: lpc32xx: Remove handling of PWM channels Because LPC32xx PWM controllers have only a single output which is registered as the only PWM device/channel per controller, it is known in advance that pwm->hwpwm value is always 0. On basis of this fact simplify the code by removing operations with pwm->hwpwm, there is no controls which require channel number as input. Even though I wasn't aware at the time when I forward ported that patch, this fixes a null pointer dereference as lpc32xx->chip.pwms is NULL before devm_pwmchip_add() is called. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2023-53472? +

CVE-2023-53472 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.

What products are affected by CVE-2023-53472? +

CVE-2023-53472 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2023-53472? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

Related Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-8479

IEC 60870-5-104 used in bidirectional mode in RTU500 is vulnerable for a NULL pointer dereferencing, if a specially crafted sequence …

CVE-2025-24031

PAM-PKCS#11 is a Linux-PAM login module that allows a X.509 certificate based user login. In versions 0.6.12 and prior, the …

CVE-2025-31115

XZ Utils provide a general-purpose data-compression library plus command-line tools. In XZ Utils 5.3.3alpha to 5.8.0, the multithreaded .xz decoder …

CVE-2025-0121

A null pointer dereference vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks Cortex® XDR agent on Windows devices allows a low-privileged local …

CVE-2023-45925

GNU Midnight Commander 4.8.29-146-g299d9a2fb was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference via the function x_error_handler() at tty/x11conn.c. NOTE: this …

CVE-2025-6398

A null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the IOMap64.sys driver of ASUS AI Suite 3. The vulnerability can be triggered …

CVE-2023-53472