CVE-2023-53542

A configuration error was found in the Linux kernel's Exynos device tree for the MIPI video PHY. A local user on Exynos5420 systems can trigger this issue when the MIPI PHY driver is loaded, but the device tree specifies an incorrect compatible string that doesn't match the actual hardware. This causes the driver to fail initialization with a kernel panic, resulting in system crash and denial of service.

Back in 2016, driver support was added for the Exynos5420 MIPI PHY hardware. However, the device tree configuration for Exynos5420 was never updated to use the new compatible string, continuing to reference an older or incorrect identifier. When the system attempts to initialize the MIPI video PHY during boot or driver loading, the mismatch between what the device tree advertises and what the driver expects causes initialization to fail catastrophically. Rather than gracefully handling the incompatibility, the kernel panics. This is a straightforward configuration bug—the hardware support exists, but the platform description doesn't point to it correctly.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.