Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2023-52986
A fix is available.
Upgrade to 5.10.168 / 5.15.93 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click
Patch available
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, sockmap: Check for any of tcp_bpf_prots when cloning a listener A listening socket linked to a sockmap has its sk_prot overridden. It points to one of the struct proto variants in tcp_bpf_prots. The variant depends on the socket's family and which sockmap programs are attached. A child socket cloned from a TCP listener initially inherits their sk_prot. But before cloning is finished, we restore the child's proto to the listener's original non-tcp_bpf_prots one. This happens in tcp_create_openreq_child -> tcp_bpf_clone. Today, in tcp_bpf_clone we detect if the child's proto should be restored by checking only for the TCP_BPF_BASE proto variant. This is not correct. The sk_prot of listening socket linked to a sockmap can point to to any variant in tcp_bpf_prots. If the listeners sk_prot happens to be not the TCP_BPF_BASE variant, then the child socket unintentionally is left if the inherited sk_prot by tcp_bpf_clone. This leads to issues like infinite recursion on close [1], because the child state is otherwise not set up for use with tcp_bpf_prot operations. Adjust the check in tcp_bpf_clone to detect all of tcp_bpf_prots variants. Note that it wouldn't be sufficient to check the socket state when overriding the sk_prot in tcp_bpf_update_proto in order to always use the TCP_BPF_BASE variant for listening sockets. Since commit b8b8315e39ff ("bpf, sockmap: Remove unhash handler for BPF sockmap usage") it is possible for a socket to transition to TCP_LISTEN state while already linked to a sockmap, e.g. connect() -> insert into map -> connect(AF_UNSPEC) -> listen(). [1]: https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysisA detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:
>= 5.7, < 5.10.168>= 5.11, < 5.15.93>= 5.16, < 6.1.11= 6.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available
Upgrade to 5.10.168 / 5.15.93 / 6.1.11 or later
Fixed in
5.10.1685.15.936.1.11
Vendor patch
git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix
High confidence
Linux kernel 5.10.168, 5.15.93, 6.1.11, or 6.2.1+ (or migrate to a supported LTS branch like 6.1 or 6.6)
- Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
- Check which affected version range your kernel falls into (5.7-5.10.x, 5.11-5.15.x, 5.16-6.1.x, or 6.2.x)
- For kernels in the 5.10.x branch: upgrade to kernel version 5.10.168 or later
- For kernels in the 5.11-5.15.x branch: upgrade to kernel version 5.15.93 or later
- For kernels in the 5.16-6.1.x branch: upgrade to kernel version 6.1.11 or later
- For kernels in the 6.2.x branch: upgrade to kernel version 6.2.1 or later (or migrate to 6.1.x LTS if 6.2 is EOL)
- After upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the commit 12b0ec7c6953 is included
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility implications with custom kernel modules or drivers; ensure backups and test in staging first
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600.
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-52986 in production — separate from our analysis above.
Know something about CVE-2023-52986?
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- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
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