CVE-2023-53246

MEDIUM

Linux Kernel < 4.14.312 - NULL Pointer Dereference in CIFS DFS Traversal

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: fix DFS traversal oops without CONFIG_CIFS_DFS_UPCALL When compiled with CONFIG_CIFS_DFS_UPCALL disabled, cifs_dfs_d_automount is NULL. cifs.ko logic for mapping CIFS_FATTR_DFS_REFERRAL attributes to S_AUTOMOUNT and corresponding dentry flags is retained regardless of CONFIG_CIFS_DFS_UPCALL, leading to a NULL pointer dereference in VFS follow_automount() when traversing a DFS referral link: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 ... Call Trace: <TASK> __traverse_mounts+0xb5/0x220 ? cifs_revalidate_mapping+0x65/0xc0 [cifs] step_into+0x195/0x610 ? lookup_fast+0xe2/0xf0 path_lookupat+0x64/0x140 filename_lookup+0xc2/0x140 ? __create_object+0x299/0x380 ? kmem_cache_alloc+0x119/0x220 ? user_path_at_empty+0x31/0x50 user_path_at_empty+0x31/0x50 __x64_sys_chdir+0x2a/0xd0 ? exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0xca/0x100 do_syscall_64+0x42/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc This fix adds an inline cifs_dfs_d_automount() {return -EREMOTE} handler when CONFIG_CIFS_DFS_UPCALL is disabled. An alternative would be to avoid flagging S_AUTOMOUNT, etc. without CONFIG_CIFS_DFS_UPCALL. This approach was chosen as it provides more control over the error path.

Scores

CVSS v3 5.5
EPSS 0.0014
EPSS Percentile 3.4%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-476
Status published
Products (14)
Linux/Linux < 5.7
Linux/Linux 25e195aa1e607f129ab912d29fcfc79239703307 - 179a88a8558bbf42991d361595281f3e45d7edfc
Linux/Linux 25e195aa1e607f129ab912d29fcfc79239703307 - 1e144b68208e98fd4602c842a7149ba5f41d87fb
Linux/Linux 25e195aa1e607f129ab912d29fcfc79239703307 - 26a32a212bc540f4773cd6af8cf73e967d72569c
Linux/Linux 25e195aa1e607f129ab912d29fcfc79239703307 - b64305185b76f1d5145ce594ff48f3f0e70695bd
Linux/Linux 25e195aa1e607f129ab912d29fcfc79239703307 - b7d854c33ab48e55fc233699bbefe39ec9bb5c05
Linux/Linux 5.10.177 - 5.10.*
Linux/Linux 5.15.106 - 5.15.*
Linux/Linux 5.7
Linux/Linux 6.1.23 - 6.1.*
... and 4 more
Published Sep 15, 2025
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026