{"id":"CVE-2023-54038","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"Bluetooth: hci_conn: return ERR_PTR instead of NULL when there is no link","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nBluetooth: hci_conn: return ERR_PTR instead of NULL when there is no link\n\nhci_connect_sco currently returns NULL when there is no link (i.e. when\nhci_conn_link() returns NULL).\n\nsco_connect() expects an ERR_PTR in case of any error (see line 266 in\nsco.c). Thus, hcon set as NULL passes through to sco_conn_add(), which\ntries to get hcon->hdev, resulting in dereferencing a NULL pointer as\nreported by syzkaller.\n\nThe same issue exists for iso_connect_cis() calling hci_connect_cis().\n\nThus, make hci_connect_sco() and hci_connect_cis() return ERR_PTR\ninstead of NULL.","publishedAt":"2025-12-24T10:56:04.623Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-23T15:32:08.724Z","severity":null,"assigner":"Linux","products":["Linux Linux"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"06149746e7203d5ffe2d6faf9799ee36203aa8b8","status":"affected","lessThan":"357ab53c83a5322437fa434e9a9e3e0bafe6b383","versionType":"git"},{"version":"06149746e7203d5ffe2d6faf9799ee36203aa8b8","status":"affected","lessThan":"b4066eb04bb67e7ff66e5aaab0db4a753f37eaad","versionType":"git"},{"version":"f72fc94a17d45be98aecfd59c39b5b24a6a342e2","status":"affected","versionType":"git"},{"version":"6.3.8","status":"affected","lessThan":"6.4","versionType":"semver"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["net/bluetooth/hci_conn.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"6.4","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"6.4","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.4.7","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.4.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["net/bluetooth/hci_conn.c"]}],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/357ab53c83a5322437fa434e9a9e3e0bafe6b383","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b4066eb04bb67e7ff66e5aaab0db4a753f37eaad"],"weaknesses":[],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:06:42.242Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2023/54xxx/CVE-2023-54038.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2023-54038","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2025-12-24T10:56:04.623Z","dateUpdated":"2026-05-23T15:32:08.724Z","assignerShortName":"Linux","assignerOrgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateReserved":"2025-12-24T10:53:46.181Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"Bluetooth: hci_conn: return ERR_PTR instead of NULL when there is no link","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nBluetooth: hci_conn: return ERR_PTR instead of NULL when there is no link\n\nhci_connect_sco currently returns NULL when there is no link (i.e. when\nhci_conn_link() returns NULL).\n\nsco_connect() expects an ERR_PTR in case of any error (see line 266 in\nsco.c). Thus, hcon set as NULL passes through to sco_conn_add(), which\ntries to get hcon->hdev, resulting in dereferencing a NULL pointer as\nreported by syzkaller.\n\nThe same issue exists for iso_connect_cis() calling hci_connect_cis().\n\nThus, make hci_connect_sco() and hci_connect_cis() return ERR_PTR\ninstead of NULL."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"06149746e7203d5ffe2d6faf9799ee36203aa8b8","status":"affected","lessThan":"357ab53c83a5322437fa434e9a9e3e0bafe6b383","versionType":"git"},{"version":"06149746e7203d5ffe2d6faf9799ee36203aa8b8","status":"affected","lessThan":"b4066eb04bb67e7ff66e5aaab0db4a753f37eaad","versionType":"git"},{"version":"f72fc94a17d45be98aecfd59c39b5b24a6a342e2","status":"affected","versionType":"git"},{"version":"6.3.8","status":"affected","lessThan":"6.4","versionType":"semver"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["net/bluetooth/hci_conn.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"6.4","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"6.4","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.4.7","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.4.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["net/bluetooth/hci_conn.c"]}],"references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/357ab53c83a5322437fa434e9a9e3e0bafe6b383"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b4066eb04bb67e7ff66e5aaab0db4a753f37eaad"}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Linux","orgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateUpdated":"2026-05-23T15:32:08.724Z"},"cpeApplicability":[{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"6.4","versionEndExcluding":"6.4.7"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"6.4","versionEndExcluding":"6.5"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"6.3.8"}]}]}],"x_generator":{"engine":"bippy-1.2.0"}}}}}