FKIE_CVE-2023-53698

Vulnerability from fkie_nvd - Published: 2025-10-22 14:15 - Updated: 2026-10-28 19:10
Severity
7.8 (High) - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: fix refcount underflow in error path Fix a refcount underflow problem reported by syzbot that can happen when a system is running out of memory. If xp_alloc_tx_descs() fails, and it can only fail due to not having enough memory, then the error path is triggered. In this error path, the refcount of the pool is decremented as it has incremented before. However, the reference to the pool in the socket was not nulled. This means that when the socket is closed later, the socket teardown logic will think that there is a pool attached to the socket and try to decrease the refcount again, leading to a refcount underflow. I chose this fix as it involved adding just a single line. Another option would have been to move xp_get_pool() and the assignment of xs->pool to after the if-statement and using xs_umem->pool instead of xs->pool in the whole if-statement resulting in somewhat simpler code, but this would have led to much more churn in the code base perhaps making it harder to backport.
References
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15b453cf7348973217558235b9ece2ee5fea6777
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3e7722c31d4167eb7f3ffd35aba52cab69b79072
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/789fcd94c9cac133dd4d96e193188661aca9f6c3
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/85c2c79a07302fe68a1ad5cc449458cc559e314d
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "net/xdp/xsk.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "789fcd94c9cac133dd4d96e193188661aca9f6c3",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "f7019562f142bc041f9cde63af338d1886585923",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "15b453cf7348973217558235b9ece2ee5fea6777",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "ba3beec2ec1d3b4fd8672ca6e781dac4b3267f6e",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "3e7722c31d4167eb7f3ffd35aba52cab69b79072",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "ba3beec2ec1d3b4fd8672ca6e781dac4b3267f6e",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "85c2c79a07302fe68a1ad5cc449458cc559e314d",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "ba3beec2ec1d3b4fd8672ca6e781dac4b3267f6e",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "9f0c8a9d4ef1b9ebee0e4ac2495fe790727044aa",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "5.15.127",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5.15.47",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "5.18",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5.17.15",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "net/xdp/xsk.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5.18"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "5.18",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "5.15.127",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.1.46",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.4.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.4.11",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.5",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    }
  ],
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nxsk: fix refcount underflow in error path\n\nFix a refcount underflow problem reported by syzbot that can happen\nwhen a system is running out of memory. If xp_alloc_tx_descs() fails,\nand it can only fail due to not having enough memory, then the error\npath is triggered. In this error path, the refcount of the pool is\ndecremented as it has incremented before. However, the reference to\nthe pool in the socket was not nulled. This means that when the socket\nis closed later, the socket teardown logic will think that there is a\npool attached to the socket and try to decrease the refcount again,\nleading to a refcount underflow.\n\nI chose this fix as it involved adding just a single line. Another\noption would have been to move xp_get_pool() and the assignment of\nxs-\u003epool to after the if-statement and using xs_umem-\u003epool instead of\nxs-\u003epool in the whole if-statement resulting in somewhat simpler code,\nbut this would have led to much more churn in the code base perhaps\nmaking it harder to backport."
    },
    {
      "lang": "es",
      "value": "En el kernel de Linux, la siguiente vulnerabilidad ha sido resuelta:\n\nxsk: correcci\u00f3n de desbordamiento negativo del contador de referencias en la ruta de error\n\nCorrige un problema de desbordamiento negativo del contador de referencias reportado por syzbot que puede ocurrir cuando un sistema se queda sin memoria. Si xp_alloc_tx_descs() falla, y solo puede fallar por no tener suficiente memoria, entonces se activa la ruta de error. En esta ruta de error, el contador de referencias del pool se decrementa como se hab\u00eda incrementado antes. Sin embargo, la referencia al pool en el socket no fue anulada. Esto significa que cuando el socket se cierra m\u00e1s tarde, la l\u00f3gica de desmantelamiento del socket pensar\u00e1 que hay un pool adjunto al socket e intentar\u00e1 decrementar el contador de referencias de nuevo, lo que lleva a un desbordamiento negativo del contador de referencias.\n\nEleg\u00ed esta correcci\u00f3n ya que implicaba a\u00f1adir solo una l\u00ednea. Otra opci\u00f3n habr\u00eda sido mover xp_get_pool() y la asignaci\u00f3n de xs  -\u003e  pool a despu\u00e9s de la sentencia if y usar xs_umem  -\u003e  pool en lugar de xs  -\u003e  pool en toda la sentencia if, lo que resultar\u00eda en un c\u00f3digo algo m\u00e1s simple, pero esto habr\u00eda provocado mucha m\u00e1s agitaci\u00f3n en la base de c\u00f3digo, quiz\u00e1s dificultando su retroportaci\u00f3n."
    }
  ],
  "id": "CVE-2023-53698",
  "lastModified": "2026-10-28T19:10:00.193",
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "cvssData": {
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "attackVector": "LOCAL",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
          "baseScore": 7.8,
          "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
          "version": "3.1"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
        "impactScore": 5.9,
        "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "type": "Secondary"
      }
    ],
    "ssvcV203": [
      {
        "source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
        "ssvcData": {
          "id": "CVE-2023-53698",
          "options": [
            {
              "exploitation": "none"
            },
            {
              "automatable": "no"
            },
            {
              "technicalImpact": "total"
            }
          ],
          "role": "CISA Coordinator",
          "timestamp": "2026-10-15T21:36:35.978263Z",
          "version": "2.0.3"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "published": "2025-10-22T14:15:44.330",
  "references": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15b453cf7348973217558235b9ece2ee5fea6777"
    },
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3e7722c31d4167eb7f3ffd35aba52cab69b79072"
    },
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/789fcd94c9cac133dd4d96e193188661aca9f6c3"
    },
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/85c2c79a07302fe68a1ad5cc449458cc559e314d"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
  "vulnStatus": "Deferred"
}



Log in or create an account to share your comment.




Tags
Taxonomy of the tags.




Drag nodes to arrange them. Double-click a related vulnerability to open it, or a source to visit its link. The Physics button on the left tunes the layout and the simulation; the legend at the bottom left hides or shows nodes by kind and by sighting type.

Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Vulnerability timeline

Sightings and recorded dates, grouped by day · UTC

JSON

Loading timeline…




    Related by attack behaviour

    Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.