# CVE-2023-52767: tls: fix NULL deref on tls\_sw\_splice\_eof() with empty record

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-05-21 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 6.5

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tls: fix NULL deref on tls_sw_splice_eof() with empty record syzkaller discovered that if tls_sw_splice_eof() is executed as part of sendfile() when the plaintext/ciphertext sk_msg are empty, the send path gets confused because the empty ciphertext buffer does not have enough space for the encryption overhead. This causes tls_push_record() to go on the `split = true` path (which is only supposed to be used when interacting with an attached BPF program), and then get further confused and hit the tls_merge_open_record() path, which then assumes that there must be at least one populated buffer element, leading to a NULL deref. It is possible to have empty plaintext/ciphertext buffers if we previously bailed from tls_sw_sendmsg_locked() via the tls_trim_both_msgs() path. tls_sw_push_pending_record() already handles this case correctly; let's do the same check in tls_sw_splice_eof().

## 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.
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## 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/944900fe2736c07288efe2d9394db4d3ca23f2c9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2214e2bb5489145aba944874d0ee1652a0a63dc8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53f2cb491b500897a619ff6abd72f565933760f0

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-52767
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-52767
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