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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53107

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.21 / 6.2.8 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: veth: Fix use after free in XDP_REDIRECT Commit 718a18a0c8a6 ("veth: Rework veth_xdp_rcv_skb in order to accept non-linear skb") introduced a bug where it tried to use pskb_expand_head() if the headroom was less than XDP_PACKET_HEADROOM. This however uses kmalloc to expand the head, which will later allow consume_skb() to free the skb while is it still in use by AF_XDP. Previously if the headroom was less than XDP_PACKET_HEADROOM we continued on to allocate a new skb from pages so this restores that behavior. BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __xsk_rcv+0x18d/0x2c0 Read of size 78 at addr ffff888976250154 by task napi/iconduit-g/148640 CPU: 5 PID: 148640 Comm: napi/iconduit-g Kdump: loaded Tainted: G O 6.1.4-cloudflare-kasan-2023.1.2 #1 Hardware name: Quanta Computer Inc. QuantaPlex T41S-2U/S2S-MB, BIOS S2S_3B10.03 06/21/2018 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x34/0x48 print_report+0x170/0x473 ? __xsk_rcv+0x18d/0x2c0 kasan_report+0xad/0x130 ? __xsk_rcv+0x18d/0x2c0 kasan_check_range+0x149/0x1a0 memcpy+0x20/0x60 __xsk_rcv+0x18d/0x2c0 __xsk_map_redirect+0x1f3/0x490 ? veth_xdp_rcv_skb+0x89c/0x1ba0 [veth] xdp_do_redirect+0x5ca/0xd60 veth_xdp_rcv_skb+0x935/0x1ba0 [veth] ? __netif_receive_skb_list_core+0x671/0x920 ? veth_xdp+0x670/0x670 [veth] veth_xdp_rcv+0x304/0xa20 [veth] ? do_xdp_generic+0x150/0x150 ? veth_xdp_rcv_one+0xde0/0xde0 [veth] ? _raw_spin_lock_bh+0xe0/0xe0 ? newidle_balance+0x887/0xe30 ? __perf_event_task_sched_in+0xdb/0x800 veth_poll+0x139/0x571 [veth] ? veth_xdp_rcv+0xa20/0xa20 [veth] ? _raw_spin_unlock+0x39/0x70 ? finish_task_switch.isra.0+0x17e/0x7d0 ? __switch_to+0x5cf/0x1070 ? __schedule+0x95b/0x2640 ? io_schedule_timeout+0x160/0x160 __napi_poll+0xa1/0x440 napi_threaded_poll+0x3d1/0x460 ? __napi_poll+0x440/0x440 ? __kthread_parkme+0xc6/0x1f0 ? __napi_poll+0x440/0x440 kthread+0x2a2/0x340 ? kthread_complete_and_exit+0x20/0x20 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 </TASK> Freed by task 148640: kasan_save_stack+0x23/0x50 kasan_set_track+0x21/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x2a/0x40 ____kasan_slab_free+0x169/0x1d0 slab_free_freelist_hook+0xd2/0x190 __kmem_cache_free+0x1a1/0x2f0 skb_release_data+0x449/0x600 consume_skb+0x9f/0x1c0 veth_xdp_rcv_skb+0x89c/0x1ba0 [veth] veth_xdp_rcv+0x304/0xa20 [veth] veth_poll+0x139/0x571 [veth] __napi_poll+0xa1/0x440 napi_threaded_poll+0x3d1/0x460 kthread+0x2a2/0x340 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff888976250000 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-2k of size 2048 The buggy address is located 340 bytes inside of 2048-byte region [ffff888976250000, ffff888976250800) The buggy address belongs to the physical page: page:00000000ae18262a refcount:2 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x976250 head:00000000ae18262a order:3 compound_mapcount:0 compound_pincount:0 flags: 0x2ffff800010200(slab|head|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x1ffff) raw: 002ffff800010200 0000000000000000 dead000000000122 ffff88810004cf00 raw: 0000000000000000 0000000080080008 00000002ffffffff 0000000000000000 page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected Memory state around the buggy address: ffff888976250000: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ffff888976250080: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb > ffff888976250100: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ^ ffff888976250180: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ffff888976250200: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb

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 analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-416

Memory 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
Affected:>= 5.18, < 6.1.21>= 6.2, < 6.2.8= 6.3

CVSS 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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.1.21 / 6.2.8 or later
Fixed in 6.1.216.2.8
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.1.21+ / 6.2.8+ / 6.3.x (fixed release)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which branch of the Linux Kernel is in use (e.g., 5.18.x, 6.1.x, 6.2.x, or 6.3.x)
  3. For systems running kernel 6.1.x: Plan upgrade to version 6.1.21 or later
  4. For systems running kernel 6.2.x: Plan upgrade to version 6.2.8 or later
  5. For systems running kernel 6.3.x: Plan upgrade to the next stable release that includes the fix (or wait for 6.3.x patch)
  6. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to apply the new kernel
  7. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches a fixed release
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting production systems; ensure compatibility with other system components and drivers before upgrading

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 $3,200. Get the upgrade done

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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 sources

Practitioner notes

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Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53107 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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