Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2023-53088
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: mptcp: fix UaF in listener shutdown As reported by Christoph after having refactored the passive socket initialization, the mptcp listener shutdown path is prone to an UaF issue. BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in _raw_spin_lock_bh+0x73/0xe0 Write of size 4 at addr ffff88810cb23098 by task syz-executor731/1266 CPU: 1 PID: 1266 Comm: syz-executor731 Not tainted 6.2.0-rc59af4eaa31c1f6c00c8f1e448ed99a45c66340dd5 #6 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x6e/0x91 print_report+0x16a/0x46f kasan_report+0xad/0x130 kasan_check_range+0x14a/0x1a0 _raw_spin_lock_bh+0x73/0xe0 subflow_error_report+0x6d/0x110 sk_error_report+0x3b/0x190 tcp_disconnect+0x138c/0x1aa0 inet_child_forget+0x6f/0x2e0 inet_csk_listen_stop+0x209/0x1060 __mptcp_close_ssk+0x52d/0x610 mptcp_destroy_common+0x165/0x640 mptcp_destroy+0x13/0x80 __mptcp_destroy_sock+0xe7/0x270 __mptcp_close+0x70e/0x9b0 mptcp_close+0x2b/0x150 inet_release+0xe9/0x1f0 __sock_release+0xd2/0x280 sock_close+0x15/0x20 __fput+0x252/0xa20 task_work_run+0x169/0x250 exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x113/0x120 syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x1d/0x40 do_syscall_64+0x48/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc The msk grace period can legitly expire in between the last reference count dropped in mptcp_subflow_queue_clean() and the later eventual access in inet_csk_listen_stop() After the previous patch we don't need anymore special-casing msk listener socket cleanup: the mptcp worker will process each of the unaccepted msk sockets. Just drop the now unnecessary code. Please note this commit depends on the two parent ones: mptcp: refactor passive socket initialization mptcp: use the workqueue to destroy unaccepted sockets
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 analysisMemory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.
General guidance for the use after free class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
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
>= 5.18.10, < 5.19>= 5.19.1, < 6.1.22>= 6.2, < 6.2.8= 5.19= 6.3CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 · scoped5.196.1.226.2.8
6.1.22 (or 6.2.8 for 6.2.x, or 5.19.1+ for 5.19.x)
- 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
- 2. Check which version range your current kernel falls into (>= 5.18.10 && < 5.19, = 5.19, >= 5.19.1 && < 6.1.22, or >= 6.2 && < 6.2.8)
- 3. Upgrade to a fixed kernel version: for 5.19.x upgrade to >= 5.19.1, for 6.1.x upgrade to >= 6.1.22, for 6.2.x upgrade to >= 6.2.8
- 4. On Debian/Ubuntu: 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install linux-image-<version>'
- 5. On RHEL/CentOS: 'sudo yum update kernel'
- 6. On Fedora: 'sudo dnf update kernel'
- 7. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel: 'sudo reboot'
- 8. Verify the new kernel version is running: 'uname -r'
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-53088 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
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-2023-53088 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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