CVE-2023-53260
ovl: fix null pointer dereference in ovl_permission()
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 5.5 Medium
- Published
- Sep 15, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Reserved
- Sep 15, 2025
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ovl: fix null pointer dereference in ovl_permission()
Following process: P1 P2 path_lookupat link_path_walk inode_permission ovl_permission ovl_i_path_real(inode, &realpath) path->dentry = ovl_i_dentry_upper(inode) drop_cache __dentry_kill(ovl_dentry) iput(ovl_inode) ovl_destroy_inode(ovl_inode) dput(oi->__upperdentry) dentry_kill(upperdentry) dentry_unlink_inode upperdentry->d_inode = NULL realinode = d_inode(realpath.dentry) // return NULL inode_permission(realinode) inode->i_sb // NULL pointer dereference , will trigger an null pointer dereference at realinode: [ 335.664979] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000002 [ 335.668032] CPU: 0 PID: 2592 Comm: ls Not tainted 6.3.0 [ 335.669956] RIP: 0010:inode_permission+0x33/0x2c0 [ 335.678939] Call Trace: [ 335.679165] <TASK> [ 335.679371] ovl_permission+0xde/0x320 [ 335.679723] inode_permission+0x15e/0x2c0 [ 335.680090] link_path_walk+0x115/0x550 [ 335.680771] path_lookupat.isra.0+0xb2/0x200 [ 335.681170] filename_lookup+0xda/0x240 [ 335.681922] vfs_statx+0xa6/0x1f0 [ 335.682233] vfs_fstatat+0x7b/0xb0
Fetch a reproducer in [Link].
Use the helper ovl_i_path_realinode() to get realinode and then do non-nullptr checking.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 5.5 Medium | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H | CISA-ADP |
Weaknesses
- CWE-476 NULL Pointer Dereference
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
LinuxLinux |
|
LinuxLinux |
|
References
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