CVE-2023-53198: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-hmqp-vg4p-vwv9
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CVSS 5.5
CWE-476
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-53198 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2023-53198 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-53198
GHSA Identifier GHSA-hmqp-vg4p-vwv9
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.5
CWE Classification CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Local (AV:L)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2023-53198

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2023-53198, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference, where the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: raw: Fix NULL deref in raw_get_next(). Dae R. Jeong reported a NULL deref in raw_get_next() [0]. It seems that the repro was running these sequences in parallel so that one thread was iterating on a socket that was being freed in another netns. unshare(0x40060200) r0 = syz_open_procfs(0x0, &(0x7f0000002080)='net/raw\x00') socket$inet_icmp_raw(0x2, 0x3, 0x1) pread64(r0, &(0x7f0000000000)=""/10, 0xa, 0x10000000007f) After commit 0daf07e52709 ("raw: convert raw sockets to RCU"), we use RCU and hlist_nulls_for_each_entry() to iterate over SOCK_RAW sockets. However, we should use spinlock for slow paths to avoid the NULL deref. Also, SOCK_RAW does not use SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU, and the slab object is not reused during iteration in the grace period. In fact, the lockless readers do not check the nulls marker with get_nulls_value(). So, SOCK_RAW should use hlist instead of hlist_nulls. Instead of adding an unnecessary barrier by sk_nulls_for_each_rcu(), let's convert hlist_nulls to hlist and use sk_for_each_rcu() for fast paths and sk_for_each() and spinlock for /proc/net/raw. [0]: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000005: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000028-0x000000000000002f] CPU: 2 PID: 20952 Comm: syz-executor.0 Not tainted 6.2.0-g048ec869bafd-dirty #7 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.14.0-0-g155821a1990b-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:read_pnet include/net/net_namespace.h:383 [inline] RIP: 0010:sock_net include/net/sock.h:649 [inline] RIP: 0010:raw_get_next net/ipv4/raw.c:974 [inline] RIP: 0010:raw_get_idx net/ipv4/raw.c:986 [inline] RIP: 0010:raw_seq_start+0x431/0x800 net/ipv4/raw.c:995 Code: ef e8 33 3d 94 f7 49 8b 6d 00 4c 89 ef e8 b7 65 5f f7 49 89 ed 49 83 c5 98 0f 84 9a 00 00 00 48 83 c5 c8 48 89 e8 48 c1 e8 03 <42> 80 3c 30 00 74 08 48 89 ef e8 00 3d 94 f7 4c 8b 7d 00 48 89 ef RSP: 0018:ffffc9001154f9b0 EFLAGS: 00010206 RAX: 0000000000000005 RBX: 1ffff1100302c8fd RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000028 RSI: ffffc9001154f988 RDI: ffffc9000f77a338 RBP: 0000000000000029 R08: ffffffff8a50ffb4 R09: fffffbfff24b6bd9 R10: fffffbfff24b6bd9 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff88801db73b78 R13: fffffffffffffff9 R14: dffffc0000000000 R15: 0000000000000030 FS: 00007f843ae8e700(0000) GS:ffff888063700000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 000055bb9614b35f CR3: 000000003c672000 CR4: 00000000003506e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> seq_read_iter+0x4c6/0x10f0 fs/seq_file.c:225 seq_read+0x224/0x320 fs/seq_file.c:162 pde_read fs/proc/inode.c:316 [inline] proc_reg_read+0x23f/0x330 fs/proc/inode.c:328 vfs_read+0x31e/0xd30 fs/read_write.c:468 ksys_pread64 fs/read_write.c:665 [inline] __do_sys_pread64 fs/read_write.c:675 [inline] __se_sys_pread64 fs/read_write.c:672 [inline] __x64_sys_pread64+0x1e9/0x280 fs/read_write.c:672 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:51 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x4e/0xa0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:82 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd RIP: 0033:0x478d29 Code: f7 d8 64 89 02 b8 ff ff ff ff c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 bc ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007f843ae8dbe8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000011 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000791408 RCX: 0000000000478d29 RDX: 000000000000000a RSI: 0000000020000000 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00000000f477909a R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 000010000000007f R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000791740 R13: 0000000000791414 R14: 0000000000791408 R15: 00007ffc2eb48a50 </TASK> Modules linked in: ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- RIP: 0010 ---truncated---

References

NVD — CVE-2023-53198 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53198
git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a78cf7264... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a78cf7264d29abeca098eae0b188a10aabc8a32
git.kernel.org/stable/c/67daeaecd7... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/67daeaecd70ef20ab540c21739d3f633734967a1
git.kernel.org/stable/c/b34056bedf... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b34056bedf04d08ef24f713a7f93bad1274a838d

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-53198?
CVE-2023-53198 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2023-53198?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-53198?
CVE-2023-53198 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-53198?
CVE-2023-53198 is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference (The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2023-53198?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-hmqp-vg4p-vwv9",
  "modified" : "2025-12-02T21:31:25Z",
  "published" : "2025-09-15T15:31:24Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-53198" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nraw: Fix NULL deref in raw_get_next().\n\nDae R. Jeong reported a NULL deref in raw_get_next() [0].\n\nIt seems that the repro was running these sequences in parallel so\nthat one thread was iterating on a socket that was being freed in\nanother netns.\n\n  unshare(0x40060200)\n  r0 = syz_open_procfs(0x0, &(0x7f0000002080)='net/raw\\x00')\n  socket$inet_icmp_raw(0x2, 0x3, 0x1)\n  pread64(r0, &(0x7f0000000000)=\"\"/10, 0xa, 0x10000000007f)\n\nAfter commit 0daf07e52709 (\"raw: convert raw sockets to RCU\"), we\nuse RCU and hlist_nulls_for_each_entry() to iterate over SOCK_RAW\nsockets.  However, we should use spinlock for slow paths to avoid\nthe NULL deref.\n\nAlso, SOCK_RAW does not use SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU, and the slab object\nis not reused during iteration in the grace period.  In fact, the\nlockless readers do not check the nulls marker with get_nulls_value().\nSo, SOCK_RAW should use hlist instead of hlist_nulls.\n\nInstead of adding an unnecessary barrier by sk_nulls_for_each_rcu(),\nlet's convert hlist_nulls to hlist and use sk_for_each_rcu() for\nfast paths and sk_for_each() and spinlock for /proc/net/raw.\n\n[0]:\ngeneral protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000005: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN\nKASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000028-0x000000000000002f]\nCPU: 2 PID: 20952 Comm: syz-executor.0 Not tainted 6.2.0-g048ec869bafd-dirty #7\nHardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.14.0-0-g155821a1990b-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014\nRIP: 0010:read_pnet include/net/net_namespace.h:383 [inline]\nRIP: 0010:sock_net include/net/sock.h:649 [inline]\nRIP: 0010:raw_get_next net/ipv4/raw.c:974 [inline]\nRIP: 0010:raw_get_idx net/ipv4/raw.c:986 [inline]\nRIP: 0010:raw_seq_start+0x431/0x800 net/ipv4/raw.c:995\nCode: ef e8 33 3d 94 f7 49 8b 6d 00 4c 89 ef e8 b7 65 5f f7 49 89 ed 49 83 c5 98 0f 84 9a 00 00 00 48 83 c5 c8 48 89 e8 48 c1 e8 03 <42> 80 3c 30 00 74 08 48 89 ef e8 00 3d 94 f7 4c 8b 7d 00 48 89 ef\nRSP: 0018:ffffc9001154f9b0 EFLAGS: 00010206\nRAX: 0000000000000005 RBX: 1ffff1100302c8fd RCX: 0000000000000000\nRDX: 0000000000000028 RSI: ffffc9001154f988 RDI: ffffc9000f77a338\nRBP: 0000000000000029 R08: ffffffff8a50ffb4 R09: fffffbfff24b6bd9\nR10: fffffbfff24b6bd9 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff88801db73b78\nR13: fffffffffffffff9 R14: dffffc0000000000 R15: 0000000000000030\nFS:  00007f843ae8e700(0000) GS:ffff888063700000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000\nCS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033\nCR2: 000055bb9614b35f CR3: 000000003c672000 CR4: 00000000003506e0\nDR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000\nDR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400\nCall Trace:\n <TASK>\n seq_read_iter+0x4c6/0x10f0 fs/seq_file.c:225\n seq_read+0x224/0x320 fs/seq_file.c:162\n pde_read fs/proc/inode.c:316 [inline]\n proc_reg_read+0x23f/0x330 fs/proc/inode.c:328\n vfs_read+0x31e/0xd30 fs/read_write.c:468\n ksys_pread64 fs/read_write.c:665 [inline]\n __do_sys_pread64 fs/read_write.c:675 [inline]\n __se_sys_pread64 fs/read_write.c:672 [inline]\n __x64_sys_pread64+0x1e9/0x280 fs/read_write.c:672\n do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:51 [inline]\n do_syscall_64+0x4e/0xa0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:82\n entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd\nRIP: 0033:0x478d29\nCode: f7 d8 64 89 02 b8 ff ff ff ff c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 bc ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48\nRSP: 002b:00007f843ae8dbe8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000011\nRAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000791408 RCX: 0000000000478d29\nRDX: 000000000000000a RSI: 0000000020000000 RDI: 0000000000000003\nRBP: 00000000f477909a R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000\nR10: 000010000000007f R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000791740\nR13: 0000000000791414 R14: 0000000000791408 R15: 00007ffc2eb48a50\n </TASK>\nModules linked in:\n---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---\nRIP: 0010\n---truncated---",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53198"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a78cf7264d29abeca098eae0b188a10aabc8a32"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/67daeaecd70ef20ab540c21739d3f633734967a1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b34056bedf04d08ef24f713a7f93bad1274a838d"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-476" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-09-15T14:15:42Z"
  }
}