Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53548

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-10-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.14.322 / 4.19.291 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 · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: usbnet: Fix WARNING in usbnet_start_xmit/usb_submit_urb The syzbot fuzzer identified a problem in the usbnet driver: usb 1-1: BOGUS urb xfer, pipe 3 != type 1 WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 754 at drivers/usb/core/urb.c:504 usb_submit_urb+0xed6/0x1880 drivers/usb/core/urb.c:504 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 754 Comm: kworker/0:2 Not tainted 6.4.0-rc7-syzkaller-00014-g692b7dc87ca6 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/27/2023 Workqueue: mld mld_ifc_work RIP: 0010:usb_submit_urb+0xed6/0x1880 drivers/usb/core/urb.c:504 Code: 7c 24 18 e8 2c b4 5b fb 48 8b 7c 24 18 e8 42 07 f0 fe 41 89 d8 44 89 e1 4c 89 ea 48 89 c6 48 c7 c7 a0 c9 fc 8a e8 5a 6f 23 fb <0f> 0b e9 58 f8 ff ff e8 fe b3 5b fb 48 81 c5 c0 05 00 00 e9 84 f7 RSP: 0018:ffffc9000463f568 EFLAGS: 00010086 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000001 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: ffff88801eb28000 RSI: ffffffff814c03b7 RDI: 0000000000000001 RBP: ffff8881443b7190 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000003 R13: ffff88802a77cb18 R14: 0000000000000003 R15: ffff888018262500 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880b9800000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000556a99c15a18 CR3: 0000000028c71000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> usbnet_start_xmit+0xfe5/0x2190 drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c:1453 __netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4918 [inline] netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4932 [inline] xmit_one net/core/dev.c:3578 [inline] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x187/0x700 net/core/dev.c:3594 ... This bug is caused by the fact that usbnet trusts the bulk endpoint addresses its probe routine receives in the driver_info structure, and it does not check to see that these endpoints actually exist and have the expected type and directions. The fix is simply to add such a check.

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

A 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:>= 2.6.14, < 4.14.322>= 4.15, < 4.19.291>= 4.20, < 5.4.253>= 5.5, < 5.10.190>= 5.11, < 5.15.126>= 5.16, < 6.1.45>= 6.2, < 6.4.10= 6.5

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
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 4.14.322 / 4.19.291 / 5.4.253 or later
Fixed in 4.14.3224.19.2915.4.253
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version >= 4.14.322, 4.19.291, 5.4.253, or 5.10.190 (depending on which branch you are on)

  1. Identify the current Linux kernel version running on affected systems using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. Determine which version branch the system is running (e.g., 4.14.x, 4.19.x, 5.4.x, or 5.10.x) based on the kernel version
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version at or above the fixed release for the respective branch: 4.14.322, 4.19.291, 5.4.253, or 5.10.190
  4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  5. Verify the kernel version after reboot using `uname -r` to confirm the fix is applied
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting and could have compatibility implications with custom kernel modules or specific hardware drivers; test in a staging environment 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. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-53548 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53548 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data