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CVE Record

CVE-2023-54279: MIPS: fw: Allow firmware to pass a empty env

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: MIPS: fw: Allow firmware to pass a empty env fw_getenv will use env entry to determine style of env, however it is legal for firmware to just pass a empty list. Check if first entry exist before running strchr to avoid null pointer dereference.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysislow

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This Linux kernel issue affects MIPS systems when firmware provides an empty environment list. The kernel could dereference a null pointer during firmware environment handling, likely causing a crash or boot failure. The source bundle does not show active exploitation or a CVSS score.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted reliability risk for MIPS-based infrastructure, not a broad enterprise emergency. Patch through normal kernel or vendor firmware maintenance, with higher priority for exposed appliances where reboot failure would disrupt operations.

Technical view

In MIPS firmware handling, fw_getenv used the first environment entry to infer environment style and called strchr without first confirming that entry existed. Empty firmware environment lists are valid, so the missing null check could trigger a null pointer dereference. Stable kernel commits add the required existence check.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most plausible on MIPS-based Linux devices, especially embedded or appliance platforms using affected upstream or downstream kernel versions listed in the CVE record. Non-MIPS systems are not indicated as affected by the supplied sources.

Exploitation context

No active exploitation is reported in the supplied sources, and the CVE is not marked KEV. The condition appears tied to firmware-provided boot environment data, so practical exploitation evidence is incomplete and likely platform-specific.

Researcher notes

The supplied data identifies a null pointer dereference in MIPS firmware environment parsing, but gives no CVSS, CWE, exploitability analysis, or attack preconditions beyond empty firmware environment input. Validate against actual downstream kernel code because embedded vendors may carry backports without changing version strings.

Mitigation direction

  • Update affected Linux kernels to a version containing the referenced stable fixes.
  • Check embedded vendor firmware and BSP advisories for backported kernel fixes.
  • Prioritize MIPS appliances that recently failed boot or reboot reliability checks.
  • If no update is available, request vendor guidance for kernel backport status.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory MIPS-based Linux systems and record kernel versions.
  • Compare running kernels against the affected versions and stable fix references.
  • Confirm vendor kernels include the fw_getenv null-check backport.
  • Review boot logs for MIPS firmware environment handling crashes.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
6

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

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CVE-2023-54279 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
0ADP providers
10Source links

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinux14aecdd419217e041fb5dd2749d11f58503bdf62, 14aecdd419217e041fb5dd2749d11f58503bdf62, 14aecdd419217e041fb5dd2749d11f58503bdf62, 14aecdd419217e041fb5dd2749d11f58503bdf62, 14aecdd419217e041fb5dd2749d11f58503bdf62, 14aecdd419217e041fb5dd2749d11f58503bdf62, 14aecdd419217e041fb5dd2749d11f58503bdf62, 14aecdd419217e041fb5dd2749d11f58503bdf62, 14aecdd419217e041fb5dd2749d11f58503bdf62unaffected
LinuxLinux3.10, 0, 4.14.315, 4.19.283, 5.4.243, 5.10.180, 5.15.111, 6.1.28, 6.2.15, 6.3.2, 6.4affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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