Bug 2424931 (CVE-2023-54038)

Summary: CVE-2023-54038 kernel: Bluetooth: hci_conn: return ERR_PTR instead of NULL when there is no link
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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OS: Linux   
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2025-12-24 12:01:33 UTC 
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

Bluetooth: hci_conn: return ERR_PTR instead of NULL when there is no link

hci_connect_sco currently returns NULL when there is no link (i.e. when
hci_conn_link() returns NULL).

sco_connect() expects an ERR_PTR in case of any error (see line 266 in
sco.c). Thus, hcon set as NULL passes through to sco_conn_add(), which
tries to get hcon->hdev, resulting in dereferencing a NULL pointer as
reported by syzkaller.

The same issue exists for iso_connect_cis() calling hci_connect_cis().

Thus, make hci_connect_sco() and hci_connect_cis() return ERR_PTR
instead of NULL.
Comment 1 Alexander B 2025-12-25 15:04:15 UTC 
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2025122439-CVE-2023-54038-41bb@gregkh/T