---
id: CVE-2023-54198
title: 'tty: fix out-of-bounds access in tty_driver_lookup_tty()'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  tty: fix out-of-bounds access in tty_driver_lookup_tty()

  When specifying an invalid console= device like console=tty3270,
  tty_driver_lookup_tty() returns the tty struc…
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cvssSource: cna
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 <
    3df6f492f500a16c231f07ccc6f6ed1302caddf9
  - >-
    Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 <
    b79109d6470aaae7062998353e3a19449055829d
  - >-
    Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 <
    953a4a352a0c185460ae1449e4c6e6658e55fdfc
  - >-
    Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 <
    84ea44dc3e4ecb2632586238014bf6722aa5843b
  - >-
    Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 <
    f9d9d25ad1f0d060eaf297a2f7f03b5855a45561
  - >-
    Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 <
    765566110eb0da3cf60198b0165ecceeaafa6444
  - >-
    Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 <
    fcfeaa570f7a5c2d5f4f14931909531ff18b7fde
  - >-
    Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 <
    db4df8e9d79e7d37732c1a1b560958e8dadfefa1
  - Linux 2.6.28
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-10-15T21:38:58.741580Z'
published: '2025-12-30'
updated: '2026-10-15'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-15T21:41:41.131Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54198'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3df6f492f500a16c231f07ccc6f6ed1302caddf9'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b79109d6470aaae7062998353e3a19449055829d'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/953a4a352a0c185460ae1449e4c6e6658e55fdfc'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/84ea44dc3e4ecb2632586238014bf6722aa5843b'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f9d9d25ad1f0d060eaf297a2f7f03b5855a45561'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/765566110eb0da3cf60198b0165ecceeaafa6444'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fcfeaa570f7a5c2d5f4f14931909531ff18b7fde'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db4df8e9d79e7d37732c1a1b560958e8dadfefa1'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00155
epssPercentile: 0.04205
ingestedAt: '2026-10-15T22:48:25.432Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tty: fix out-of-bounds access in tty_driver_lookup_tty()

When specifying an invalid console= device like console=tty3270,
tty_driver_lookup_tty() returns the tty struct without checking
whether index is a valid number.

To reproduce:

qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -nographic -serial mon:stdio \
-kernel ../linux-build-x86/arch/x86/boot/bzImage \
-append "console=ttyS0 console=tty3270"

This crashes with:

[    0.770599] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000ef
[    0.771265] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
[    0.771773] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
[    0.772609] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI
[    0.774878] RIP: 0010:tty_open+0x268/0x6f0
[    0.784013]  chrdev_open+0xbd/0x230
[    0.784444]  ? cdev_device_add+0x80/0x80
[    0.784920]  do_dentry_open+0x1e0/0x410
[    0.785389]  path_openat+0xca9/0x1050
[    0.785813]  do_filp_open+0xaa/0x150
[    0.786240]  file_open_name+0x133/0x1b0
[    0.786746]  filp_open+0x27/0x50
[    0.787244]  console_on_rootfs+0x14/0x4d
[    0.787800]  kernel_init_freeable+0x1e4/0x20d
[    0.788383]  ? rest_init+0xc0/0xc0
[    0.788881]  kernel_init+0x11/0x120
[    0.789356]  ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30

## Affected

- `Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 < 3df6f492f500a16c231f07ccc6f6ed1302caddf9`
- `Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 < b79109d6470aaae7062998353e3a19449055829d`
- `Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 < 953a4a352a0c185460ae1449e4c6e6658e55fdfc`
- `Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 < 84ea44dc3e4ecb2632586238014bf6722aa5843b`
- `Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 < f9d9d25ad1f0d060eaf297a2f7f03b5855a45561`
- `Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 < 765566110eb0da3cf60198b0165ecceeaafa6444`
- `Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 < fcfeaa570f7a5c2d5f4f14931909531ff18b7fde`
- `Linux >= 99f1fe189daf8e99a847e420567e49dd7ee2aae7 < db4df8e9d79e7d37732c1a1b560958e8dadfefa1`
- `Linux 2.6.28`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.