CVE-2023-53489

What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tcp/udp: Fix memleaks of sk and zerocopy skbs with TX timestamp. syzkaller reported [0] memory leaks of an UDP socket and ZEROCOPY skbs. We can reproduce the problem with these sequences: sk = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, 0) sk.setsockopt(SOL_SOCKET, SO_TIMESTAMPING, SOF_TIMESTAMPING_TX_SOFTWARE) sk.setsockopt(SOL_SOCKET, SO_ZEROCOPY, 1) sk.sendto(b'', MSG_ZEROCOPY, ('127.0.0.1', 53)) sk.close() sendmsg() calls msg_zerocopy_alloc(), which allocates a skb, sets skb->cb->ubuf.refcnt to 1, and calls sock_hold(). Here, struct ubuf_info_msgzc indirectly holds a refcnt of the socket. When the skb is sent, __skb_tstamp_tx() clones it and puts the clone into the socket's error queue with the TX timestamp. When the original skb is received locally, skb_copy_ubufs() calls skb_unclone(), and pskb_expand_head() increments skb->cb->ubuf.refcnt. This additional count is decremented while freeing the skb, but struct ubuf_info_msgzc still has a refcnt, so __msg_zerocopy_callback() is not called. The last refcnt is not released unless we retrieve the TX timestamped skb by recvmsg(). Since we clear the error queue in inet_sock_destruct() after the socket's refcnt reaches 0, there is a circular dependency. If we close() the socket holding such skbs, we never call sock_put() and leak the count, sk, and skb. TCP has the same problem, and commit e0c8bccd40fc ("net: stream: purge sk_error_queue in sk_stream_kill_queues()") tried to fix it by calling skb_queue_purge() during close(). However, there is a small chance that skb queued in a qdisc or device could be put into the error queue after the skb_queue_purge() call. In __skb_tstamp_tx(), the cloned skb should not have a reference to the ubuf to remove the circular dependency, but skb_clone() does not call skb_copy_ubufs() for zerocopy skb. So, we need to call skb_orphan_frags_rx() for the cloned skb to call skb_copy_ubufs(). [0]: BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff88800c6d2d00 (size 1152): comm "syz-executor392", pid 264, jiffies 4294785440 (age 13.044s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 cd af e8 81 00 00 00 00 ................ 02 00 07 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ...@............ backtrace: [<0000000055636812>] sk_prot_alloc+0x64/0x2a0 net/core/sock.c:2024 [<0000000054d77b7a>] sk_alloc+0x3b/0x800 net/core/sock.c:2083 [<0000000066f3c7e0>] inet_create net/ipv4/af_inet.c:319 [inline] [<0000000066f3c7e0>] inet_create+0x31e/0xe40 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:245 [<000000009b83af97>] __sock_create+0x2ab/0x550 net/socket.c:1515 [<00000000b9b11231>] sock_create net/socket.c:1566 [inline] [<00000000b9b11231>] __sys_socket_create net/socket.c:1603 [inline] [<00000000b9b11231>] __sys_socket_create net/socket.c:1588 [inline] [<00000000b9b11231>] __sys_socket+0x138/0x250 net/socket.c:1636 [<000000004fb45142>] __do_sys_socket net/socket.c:1649 [inline] [<000000004fb45142>] __se_sys_socket net/socket.c:1647 [inline] [<000000004fb45142>] __x64_sys_socket+0x73/0xb0 net/socket.c:1647 [<0000000066999e0e>] do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] [<0000000066999e0e>] do_syscall_64+0x38/0x90 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 [<0000000017f238c1>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888017633a00 (size 240): comm "syz-executor392", pid 264, jiffies 4294785440 (age 13.044s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 2d 6d 0c 80 88 ff ff .........-m..... backtrace: [<000000002b1c4368>] __alloc_skb+0x229/0x320 net/core/skbuff.c:497 [<00000000143579a6>] alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1265 [inline] [<00000000143579a6>] sock_omalloc+0xaa/0x190 net/core/sock.c:2596 [<00000000be626478>] msg_zerocopy_alloc net/core/skbuff.c:1294 [inline] [<00000000be626478>] ---truncated---

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited locally on the machine with a low-privilege account. High risk of service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2025-10-01 12:15 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-11-05 21:17 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.2% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 5.5 MEDIUM (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2025-10-01 12:15 UTC

Last modified

2026-11-05 21:17 UTC

Exploit probability

0.2% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-401

Record status

Analyzed

Affected

• Linux Kernel < 4.14.315
• Linux Kernel < 4.19.283
• Linux Kernel < 5.4.243
• Linux Kernel < 5.10.180
• Linux Kernel < 5.15.111
• Linux Kernel < 6.1.28
• Linux Kernel < 6.2.15
• Linux Kernel < 6.3.2

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 5.5

Attack vector

Local

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

Low

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Is it in your code?

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