CVE-2023-53392

Description

From CVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: HID: intel-ish-hid: Fix kernel panic during warm reset During warm reset device->fw_client is set to NULL. If a bus driver is registered after this NULL setting and before new firmware clients are enumerated by ISHTP, kernel panic will result in the function ishtp_cl_bus_match(). This is because of reference to device->fw_client->props.protocol_name. ISH firmware after getting successfully loaded, sends a warm reset notification to remove all clients from the bus and sets device->fw_client to NULL. Until kernel v5.15, all enabled ISHTP kernel module drivers were loaded right after any of the first ISHTP device was registered, regardless of whether it was a matched or an unmatched device. This resulted in all drivers getting registered much before the warm reset notification from ISH. Starting kernel v5.16, this issue got exposed after the change was introduced to load only bus drivers for the respective matching devices. In this scenario, cros_ec_ishtp device and cros_ec_ishtp driver are registered after the warm reset device fw_client NULL setting. cros_ec_ishtp driver_register() triggers the callback to ishtp_cl_bus_match() to match ISHTP driver to the device and causes kernel panic in guid_equal() when dereferencing fw_client NULL pointer to get protocol_name.

Statement

A race during ISH warm reset left device->fw_client as NULL while new ISHTP client drivers were being matched, leading to a NULL dereference in ishtp_cl_bus_match() and a kernel panic. Exploitation requires local, high-privilege control over driver registration and device timing. It isn’t remotely triggerable.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score4.17.1N/A
Attack VectorLocalLocalN/A
Attack ComplexityHighLowN/A
Privileges RequiredHighLowN/A
User InteractionNoneNoneN/A
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedN/A
ConfidentialityNoneHighN/A
Integrity ImpactNoneNoneN/A
Availability ImpactHighHighN/A

Vector

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

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

Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation

See the 'Statement' section for an explanation of the difference between the CVSS from Red Hat and NVD, specifically why the attack complexity and the privileges required metrics are set to high and the confidentiality metric is set to none.

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

NULL pointer dereferences usually result in the failure of the process unless exception handling (on some platforms) is available and implemented. Even when exception handling is being used, it can still be very difficult to return the software to a safe state of operation.

Integrity,Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Read Memory; Modify Memory

In rare circumstances, when NULL is equivalent to the 0x0 memory address and privileged code can access it, then writing or reading memory is possible, which may lead to code execution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.