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NVD / CVE Program· CNA Linux

CVE-2023-53698: xsk: fix refcount underflow in error path

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 31/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.16% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: Linux Linux 15b453cf7348973217558235b9ece2ee5fea6777, 3e7722c31d4167eb7f3ffd35aba52cab69b79072, 5.15.127.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Linux Linux 15b453cf7348973217558235b9ece2ee5fea6777, 3e7722c31d4167eb7f3ffd35aba52cab69b79072, 5.15.127 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

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.

HighCVSS 7.8 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Oct 22, 2025
Updated
Oct 28, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 5th percentile
CWE
—

Report tools

JSON

Action score

31

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · Linux
7.8
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

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When you'll hear from us

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  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

—

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Linux). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Linux Linux

    • 9f0c8a9d4ef1b9ebee0e4ac2495fe790727044aa, 5.18affected
    • f7019562f142bc041f9cde63af338d1886585923 and later · before 789fcd94c9cac133dd4d96e193188661aca9f6c3affected · git
    • ba3beec2ec1d3b4fd8672ca6e781dac4b3267f6e and later · before 15b453cf7348973217558235b9ece2ee5fea6777affected · git
    • ba3beec2ec1d3b4fd8672ca6e781dac4b3267f6e and later · before 3e7722c31d4167eb7f3ffd35aba52cab69b79072affected · git
    • ba3beec2ec1d3b4fd8672ca6e781dac4b3267f6e and later · before 85c2c79a07302fe68a1ad5cc449458cc559e314daffected · git
    • 5.15.47 and later · before 5.15.127affected · semver
    • 5.17.15 and later · before 5.18affected · semver
    • before 5.18not affected · semver
    • 5.15.127 and later · up to and including 5.15.*not affected · semver
    • 6.1.46 and later · up to and including 6.1.*not affected · semver

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12linuxbefore 6.1.52-16.1.52-1
Debian:13linuxbefore 6.4.11-16.4.11-1

Same product

linux: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-74705udp: fix potential use-after-free in tunnel segmentation
    40Plan
  • CVE-2026-74612veth: fix skb length accounting after XDP frag adjustment
    40Plan
  • CVE-2026-74475vxlan: use neigh_ha_snapshot() in route_shortcircuit()
    40Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2023-53696Oct 22, 2025 · scsi: qla2xxx: Fix memory leak in qla2x00_probe_one()
    0Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2023-53697Oct 22, 2025 · nvdimm: Fix memleak of pmu attr_groups in unregister_nvdimm_pmu()
    0Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2023-53699Oct 22, 2025 · riscv: move memblock_allow_resize() after linear mapping is ready
    0Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Linux Linux15b453cf7348973217558235b9ece2ee5fea6777Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux3e7722c31d4167eb7f3ffd35aba52cab69b79072Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux5.15.127Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux5.18Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux789fcd94c9cac133dd4d96e193188661aca9f6c3Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux85c2c79a07302fe68a1ad5cc449458cc559e314dVendor (CNA)
debian:linux6.1.52-1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

—

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

  1. SSVC exploitation— → none
  2. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (3 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records