CVE-2025-23147: debian debian_linux NULL Pointer Dereference

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2025-23147 is a medium (CVSS 5.5) NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in debian debian_linux. EPSS estimates a 0.22% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 11.1% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 01-05-2025
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 11-05-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i3c: Add NULL pointer check in i3c_master_queue_ibi() The I3C master driver may receive an IBI from a target device that has not been probed yet. In such cases, the master calls `i3c_master_queue_ibi()` to queue an IBI work task, leading to "Unable to handle kernel read from unreadable memory" and resulting in a kernel panic. Typical IBI handling flow: 1. The I3C master scans target devices and probes their respective drivers. 2. The target device driver calls `i3c_device_request_ibi()` to enable IBI and assigns `dev->ibi = ibi`. 3. The I3C master receives an IBI from the target device and calls `i3c_master_queue_ibi()` to queue the target device driver’s IBI handler task. However, since target device events are asynchronous to the I3C probe sequence, step 3 may occur before step 2, causing `dev->ibi` to be `NULL`, leading to a kernel panic. Add a NULL pointer check in `i3c_master_queue_ibi()` to prevent accessing an uninitialized `dev->ibi`, ensuring stability.

• CWE-476NULL Pointer DereferenceThe product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.