CVE-2023-52616: crypto: lib/mpi - Fix unexpected pointer access in mpi_ec_init

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-03-18 · updated 2026-08-04

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: lib/mpi - Fix unexpected pointer access in mpi_ec_init When the mpi_ec_ctx structure is initialized, some fields are not cleared, causing a crash when referencing the field when the structure was released. Initially, this issue was ignored because memory for mpi_ec_ctx is allocated with the __GFP_ZERO flag. For example, this error will be triggered when calculating the Za value for SM2 separately.

Affected products

Debian Linux: 10.0
Linux kernel: from 5.10 before 5.10.210; from 5.11 before 5.15.149; from 5.16 before 6.1.79; from 6.2 before 6.6.15; from 6.7 before 6.7.3 — fixed in 5.10.210, 5.15.149, 6.1.79, 6.6.15, 6.7.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.210, 5.15.149, 6.1.79, 6.6.15. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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