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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2023-53601

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-10-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.121 / 6.1.39 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: bonding: do not assume skb mac_header is set Drivers must not assume in their ndo_start_xmit() that skbs have their mac_header set. skb->data is all what is needed. bonding seems to be one of the last offender as caught by syzbot: WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 skb_mac_offset include/linux/skbuff.h:2913 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_xmit_hash drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:4170 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_xmit_3ad_xor_slave_get drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5149 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_3ad_xor_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5186 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 __bond_start_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5442 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_start_xmit+0x14ab/0x19d0 drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5470 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 Comm: syz-executor.3 Not tainted 6.1.30-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/25/2023 RIP: 0010:skb_mac_header include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 [inline] RIP: 0010:skb_mac_offset include/linux/skbuff.h:2913 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_xmit_hash drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:4170 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_xmit_3ad_xor_slave_get drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5149 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_3ad_xor_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5186 [inline] RIP: 0010:__bond_start_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5442 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_start_xmit+0x14ab/0x19d0 drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5470 Code: 8b 7c 24 30 e8 76 dd 1a 01 48 85 c0 74 0d 48 89 c3 e8 29 67 2e fe e9 15 ef ff ff e8 1f 67 2e fe e9 10 ef ff ff e8 15 67 2e fe <0f> 0b e9 45 f8 ff ff e8 09 67 2e fe e9 dc fa ff ff e8 ff 66 2e fe RSP: 0018:ffffc90002fff6e0 EFLAGS: 00010283 RAX: ffffffff835874db RBX: 000000000000ffff RCX: 0000000000040000 RDX: ffffc90004dcf000 RSI: 00000000000000b5 RDI: 00000000000000b6 RBP: ffffc90002fff8b8 R08: ffffffff83586d16 R09: ffffffff83586584 R10: 0000000000000007 R11: ffff8881599fc780 R12: ffff88811b6a7b7e R13: 1ffff110236d4f6f R14: ffff88811b6a7ac0 R15: 1ffff110236d4f76 FS: 00007f2e9eb47700(0000) GS:ffff8881f6b00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000001b2e421000 CR3: 000000010e6d4000 CR4: 00000000003526e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> [<ffffffff8471a49f>] netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4925 [inline] [<ffffffff8471a49f>] __dev_direct_xmit+0x4ef/0x850 net/core/dev.c:4380 [<ffffffff851d845b>] dev_direct_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:3043 [inline] [<ffffffff851d845b>] packet_direct_xmit+0x18b/0x300 net/packet/af_packet.c:284 [<ffffffff851c7472>] packet_snd net/packet/af_packet.c:3112 [inline] [<ffffffff851c7472>] packet_sendmsg+0x4a22/0x64d0 net/packet/af_packet.c:3143 [<ffffffff8467a4b2>] sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:716 [inline] [<ffffffff8467a4b2>] sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:736 [inline] [<ffffffff8467a4b2>] __sys_sendto+0x472/0x5f0 net/socket.c:2139 [<ffffffff8467a715>] __do_sys_sendto net/socket.c:2151 [inline] [<ffffffff8467a715>] __se_sys_sendto net/socket.c:2147 [inline] [<ffffffff8467a715>] __x64_sys_sendto+0xe5/0x100 net/socket.c:2147 [<ffffffff8553071f>] do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] [<ffffffff8553071f>] do_syscall_64+0x2f/0x50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 [<ffffffff85600087>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

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:>= 5.12, < 5.15.121>= 5.16, < 6.1.39>= 6.2, < 6.3.13>= 6.4, < 6.4.4

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 5.15.121 / 6.1.39 / 6.3.13 or later
Fixed in 5.15.1216.1.396.3.13
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel >= 5.15.121, >= 6.1.39, >= 6.3.13, or >= 6.4.4

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
  2. Upgrade the Linux kernel to one of the fixed versions: 5.15.121 or higher, 6.1.39 or higher, 6.3.13 or higher, or 6.4.4 or higher
  3. Update the bootloader configuration if necessary to ensure the new kernel boots by default
  4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  5. Verify the fix by checking the kernel version with 'uname -r' and confirming the vulnerability is resolved
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require driver/module recompilation for out-of-tree modules; ensure all system components are compatible with the target kernel version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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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

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53601 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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