CVE-2023-52845: tipc: Change nla_policy for bearer-related names to NLA_NUL_STRING
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2023-52845 is a high (CVSS 7.1) Use of Uninitialized Resource vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.27% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 19.3% of scored vulnerabilities.
Not severe (CVSS 7.1, local access); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources
Source freshness unavailable
How is this decided?Advisory lineage
Upstream 0 · Downstream 13 · Related 11Timeline
- 21-05-2024PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 05-08-2026Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tipc: Change nla_policy for bearer-related names to NLA_NUL_STRING syzbot reported the following uninit-value access issue [1]: ===================================================== BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in strlen lib/string.c:418 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in strstr+0xb8/0x2f0 lib/string.c:756 strlen lib/string.c:418 [inline] strstr+0xb8/0x2f0 lib/string.c:756 tipc_nl_node_reset_link_stats+0x3ea/0xb50 net/tipc/node.c:2595 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit net/netlink/genetlink.c:971 [inline] genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:1051 [inline] genl_rcv_msg+0x11ec/0x1290 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1066 netlink_rcv_skb+0x371/0x650 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2545 genl_rcv+0x40/0x60 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1075 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1342 [inline] netlink_unicast+0xf47/0x1250 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1368 netlink_sendmsg+0x1238/0x13d0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1910 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:730 [inline] sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:753 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0x9c2/0xd60 net/socket.c:2541 ___sys_sendmsg+0x28d/0x3c0 net/socket.c:2595 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2624 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2633 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2631 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x307/0x490 net/socket.c:2631 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x41/0xc0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd Uninit was created at: slab_post_alloc_hook+0x12f/0xb70 mm/slab.h:767 slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:3478 [inline] kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x577/0xa80 mm/slub.c:3523 kmalloc_reserve+0x13d/0x4a0 net/core/skbuff.c:559 __alloc_skb+0x318/0x740 net/core/skbuff.c:650 alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1286 [inline] netlink_alloc_large_skb net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1214 [inline] netlink_sendmsg+0xb34/0x13d0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1885 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:730 [inline] sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:753 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0x9c2/0xd60 net/socket.c:2541 ___sys_sendmsg+0x28d/0x3c0 net/socket.c:2595 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2624 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2633 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2631 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x307/0x490 net/socket.c:2631 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x41/0xc0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd TIPC bearer-related names including link names must be null-terminated strings. If a link name which is not null-terminated is passed through netlink, strstr() and similar functions can cause buffer overrun. This causes the above issue. This patch changes the nla_policy for bearer-related names from NLA_STRING to NLA_NUL_STRING. This resolves the issue by ensuring that only null-terminated strings are accepted as bearer-related names. syzbot reported similar uninit-value issue related to bearer names [2]. The root cause of this issue is that a non-null-terminated bearer name was passed. This patch also resolved this issue.
CVSS metrics
5 scores · 4 sources · 2 versions- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated7.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated5.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HDiffers
- NVDNIST5.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HDiffers
EPSS trend
Probability
0.27%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
19%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
No change 0.00 pp
From 0.27% on 04-10-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogsNot in the CISA KEV catalog.
Not in the ENISA CNW catalog.
Not in the CIRCL catalog.
Public exploits
0 foundNo public exploits indexed.
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Known conditions: local access, low-privilege account, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.
Ubuntu116 products
- linuxAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 5.4.0-173.191 | < 5.15.0-100.110
- linux-allwinner-5.19All versions (No fix recorded)
- linux-awsAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 5.4.0-1120.130 | < 5.15.0-1056.61
- linux-aws-5.0All versions (No fix recorded)
- linux-aws-5.11All versions (No fix recorded)
Linux2 products
- linux≥ 0655f6a8635b1b66f2434d5556b1044c14b1ccaf, < 6744008c354bca2e4686a5b6056ee6b535d9f67d | ≥ 0655f6a8635b1b66f2434d5556b1044c14b1ccaf, < 2426425d686b43adbc4f2f4a367b494f06f159d6 | ≥ 0655f6a8635b1b66f2434d5556b1044c14b1ccaf, < 2199260c42e6fbc5af8adae3bf78e623407c91b0 | ≥ 0655f6a8635b1b66f2434d5556b1044c14b1ccaf, < b33d130f07f1decd756b849ab03c23d11d4dd294 | ≥ 0655f6a8635b1b66f2434d5556b1044c14b1ccaf, < 3907b89cd17fcc23e9a80789c36856f00ece0ba8 | ≥ 0655f6a8635b1b66f2434d5556b1044c14b1ccaf, < 4c731e98fe4d678e87ba3e4d45d3cf0a5a193dc4 | ≥ 0655f6a8635b1b66f2434d5556b1044c14b1ccaf, < abc1582119e8c4af14cedb0db6541fd603f45a04 | ≥ 0655f6a8635b1b66f2434d5556b1044c14b1ccaf, < 560992f41c0cea44b7603bc9e6c73bffbf6b5709 | ≥ 0655f6a8635b1b66f2434d5556b1044c14b1ccaf, < 19b3f72a41a8751e26bffc093bb7e1cef29ad579 | 3.19
- linux_kernel≥ 3.19, < 4.14.330 | ≥ 4.15, < 4.19.299 | ≥ 4.20, < 5.4.261 | ≥ 5.5, < 5.10.201 | ≥ 5.11, < 5.15.139 | ≥ 5.16, < 6.1.63 | ≥ 6.2, < 6.5.12 | ≥ 6.6, < 6.6.2
Debian1 product
- linux< 6.1.64-1 | < 6.6.8-1
3 vendors · 119 products