{
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2",
"cveMetadata": {
"cveId": "CVE-2023-53186",
"assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"state": "PUBLISHED",
"assignerShortName": "Linux",
"dateReserved": "2025-09-15T13:59:19.066Z",
"datePublished": "2025-09-15T14:04:38.954Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T09:13:00.022Z"
},
"containers": {
"cna": {
"providerMetadata": {
"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"shortName": "Linux",
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T09:13:00.022Z"
},
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nskbuff: Fix a race between coalescing and releasing SKBs\n\nCommit 1effe8ca4e34 (\"skbuff: fix coalescing for page_pool fragment\nrecycling\") allowed coalescing to proceed with non page pool page and page\npool page when @from is cloned, i.e.\n\nto->pp_recycle --> false\nfrom->pp_recycle --> true\nskb_cloned(from) --> true\n\nHowever, it actually requires skb_cloned(@from) to hold true until\ncoalescing finishes in this situation. If the other cloned SKB is\nreleased while the merging is in process, from_shinfo->nr_frags will be\nset to 0 toward the end of the function, causing the increment of frag\npage _refcount to be unexpectedly skipped resulting in inconsistent\nreference counts. Later when SKB(@to) is released, it frees the page\ndirectly even though the page pool page is still in use, leading to\nuse-after-free or double-free errors. So it should be prohibited.\n\nThe double-free error message below prompted us to investigate:\nBUG: Bad page state in process swapper/1 pfn:0e0d1\npage:00000000c6548b28 refcount:-1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000\nindex:0x2 pfn:0xe0d1\nflags: 0xfffffc0000000(node=0|zone=1|lastcpupid=0x1fffff)\nraw: 000fffffc0000000 0000000000000000 ffffffff00000101 0000000000000000\nraw: 0000000000000002 0000000000000000 ffffffffffffffff 0000000000000000\npage dumped because: nonzero _refcount\n\nCPU: 1 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/1 Tainted: G E 6.2.0+\nCall Trace:\n \ndump_stack_lvl+0x32/0x50\nbad_page+0x69/0xf0\nfree_pcp_prepare+0x260/0x2f0\nfree_unref_page+0x20/0x1c0\nskb_release_data+0x10b/0x1a0\nnapi_consume_skb+0x56/0x150\nnet_rx_action+0xf0/0x350\n? __napi_schedule+0x79/0x90\n__do_softirq+0xc8/0x2b1\n__irq_exit_rcu+0xb9/0xf0\ncommon_interrupt+0x82/0xa0\n\n\nasm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40\nRIP: 0010:default_idle+0xb/0x20"
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV3_1": {
"version": "3.1",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"baseScore": 8.1,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH"
},
"scenarios": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "AV:N - skb_try_coalesce() is reached from the TCP receive path (tcp_try_coalesce/tcp_queue_rcv) and IP defrag while processing inbound packets on page_pool NICs; a remote peer sending TCP segments to a listening service drives the vulnerable coalesce without local code execution.\nAC:H - The bug is a TOCTOU on skb_cloned(from) between the pp_recycle admission check and the later nr_frags/__skb_frag_ref logic; winning it requires a sibling clone (typically from AF_PACKET/monitoring or bridge fanout) to be released on another CPU during that window, which a pure remote sender cannot fully control.\nPR:N - Exploitation uses unauthenticated network traffic to an already-exposed TCP/IP service; packet taps or bridging that create clones are victim-side deployment state, not credentials or capabilities the attacker must hold on the host.\nUI:N - Coalescing runs in softirq/NAPI receive context on packet arrival; no user action such as mounting, opening a file, or confirming a prompt is required.\nS:U - The resulting page use-after-free/double-free corrupts host kernel memory within the same OS authority; it is not a VM escape, IOMMU bypass, or sandbox boundary cross.\nC:H - The race skips __skb_frag_ref while still attaching frags to @to, then frees page_pool pages still in use—classic page UAF that can be groomed for arbitrary kernel memory disclosure.\nI:H - The same UAF/double-free of page_pool pages yields heap aliasing and write primitives suitable for control-flow hijacking, matching kernel guidance that exploitable UAF is Integrity High.\nA:H - The fix commit documents a reproducible BUG/bad-page-state crash in skb_release_data→free_unref_page from net_rx softirq, so availability impact is a full kernel oops/panic."
}
]
}
],
"affected": [
{
"product": "Linux",
"vendor": "Linux",
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"programFiles": [
"net/core/skbuff.c"
],
"versions": [
{
"version": "53e0961da1c7bbdabd1abebb20de403ec237ec09",
"lessThan": "906a6689bb0191ad2a44131a3377006aa098af59",
"status": "affected",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"version": "53e0961da1c7bbdabd1abebb20de403ec237ec09",
"lessThan": "71850b5af92da21b4862a9bc55bda61091247d00",
"status": "affected",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"version": "53e0961da1c7bbdabd1abebb20de403ec237ec09",
"lessThan": "5f692c992a3bb9a8018e3488098b401a4229e7ec",
"status": "affected",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"version": "53e0961da1c7bbdabd1abebb20de403ec237ec09",
"lessThan": "0646dc31ca886693274df5749cd0c8c1eaaeb5ca",
"status": "affected",
"versionType": "git"
}
]
},
{
"product": "Linux",
"vendor": "Linux",
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"programFiles": [
"net/core/skbuff.c"
],
"versions": [
{
"version": "5.15",
"status": "affected"
},
{
"version": "0",
"lessThan": "5.15",
"status": "unaffected",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"version": "5.15.108",
"lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"version": "6.1.25",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"version": "6.2.12",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.2.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"version": "6.3",
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"cpeApplicability": [
{
"nodes": [
{
"operator": "OR",
"negate": false,
"cpeMatch": [
{
"vulnerable": true,
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionStartIncluding": "5.15",
"versionEndExcluding": "5.15.108"
},
{
"vulnerable": true,
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionStartIncluding": "5.15",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.1.25"
},
{
"vulnerable": true,
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionStartIncluding": "5.15",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.2.12"
},
{
"vulnerable": true,
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionStartIncluding": "5.15",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.3"
}
]
}
]
}
],
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/906a6689bb0191ad2a44131a3377006aa098af59"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/71850b5af92da21b4862a9bc55bda61091247d00"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5f692c992a3bb9a8018e3488098b401a4229e7ec"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0646dc31ca886693274df5749cd0c8c1eaaeb5ca"
}
],
"title": "skbuff: Fix a race between coalescing and releasing SKBs",
"x_generator": {
"engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
}
}
}
}