Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2023-53606
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: nfsd: clean up potential nfsd_file refcount leaks in COPY codepath There are two different flavors of the nfsd4_copy struct. One is embedded in the compound and is used directly in synchronous copies. The other is dynamically allocated, refcounted and tracked in the client struture. For the embedded one, the cleanup just involves releasing any nfsd_files held on its behalf. For the async one, the cleanup is a bit more involved, and we need to dequeue it from lists, unhash it, etc. There is at least one potential refcount leak in this code now. If the kthread_create call fails, then both the src and dst nfsd_files in the original nfsd4_copy object are leaked. The cleanup in this codepath is also sort of weird. In the async copy case, we'll have up to four nfsd_file references (src and dst for both flavors of copy structure). They are both put at the end of nfsd4_do_async_copy, even though the ones held on behalf of the embedded one outlive that structure. Change it so that we always clean up the nfsd_file refs held by the embedded copy structure before nfsd4_copy returns. Rework cleanup_async_copy to handle both inter and intra copies. Eliminate nfsd4_cleanup_intra_ssc since it now becomes a no-op.
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
>= 4.20, < 5.10.220>= 5.11, < 5.15.154>= 5.16, < 6.1.16>= 6.2, < 6.2.3CVSS 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
- 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 · scoped5.10.2205.15.1546.1.16
Upgrade to kernel version 5.10.220+ (for 5.10.x), 5.15.154+ (for 5.15.x), 6.1.16+ (for 6.1.x), or 6.2.3+ (for 6.2.x)
- Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
- Determine which version range your kernel falls into from: >= 4.20, < 5.10.220; >= 5.11, < 5.15.154; >= 5.16, < 6.1.16; >= 6.2, < 6.2.3
- Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix: 5.10.220 or later for 5.10.x kernels, 5.15.154 or later for 5.15.x kernels, 6.1.16 or later for 6.1.x kernels, or 6.2.3 or later for 6.2.x kernels
- Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming nfsd functionality
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-2023-53606 — 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-2023-53606 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
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