CVE-2023-53781

EPSS 0.0%
  • Published: 2025-12-09T01:16:49.280

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

smc: Fix use-after-free in tcp_write_timer_handler().

With Eric’s ref tracker, syzbot finally found a repro for
use-after-free in tcp_write_timer_handler() by kernel TCP
sockets. [0]

If SMC creates a kernel socket in __smc_create(), the kernel
socket is supposed to be freed in smc_clcsock_release() by
calling sock_release() when we close() the parent SMC socket.

However, at the end of smc_clcsock_release(), the kernel
socket’s sk_state might not be TCP_CLOSE. This means that
we have not called inet_csk_destroy_sock() in __tcp_close()
and have not stopped the TCP timers.

The kernel socket’s TCP timers can be fired later, so we
need to hold a refcnt for net as we do for MPTCP subflows
in mptcp_subflow_create_socket().

[0]:
leaked reference.
sk_alloc (./include/net/net_namespace.h:335 net/core/sock.c:2108)
inet_create (net/ipv4/af_inet.c:319 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:244)
__sock_create (net/socket.c:1546)
smc_create (net/smc/af_smc.c:3269 net/smc/af_smc.c:3284)
__sock_create (net/socket.c:1546)
__sys_socket (net/socket.c:1634 net/socket.c:1618 net/socket.c:1661)
__x64_sys_socket (net/socket.c:1672)
do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80)
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:120)
==================================================================
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in tcp_write_timer_handler (net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:378 net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:624 net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:594)
Read of size 1 at addr ffff888052b65e0d by task syzrepro/18091

CPU: 0 PID: 18091 Comm: syzrepro Tainted: G W 6.3.0-rc4-01174-gb5d54eb5899a #7
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.0-1.amzn2022.0.1 04/01/2014
Call Trace:

dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:107)
print_report (mm/kasan/report.c:320 mm/kasan/report.c:430)
kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:538)
tcp_write_timer_handler (net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:378 net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:624 net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:594)
tcp_write_timer (./include/linux/spinlock.h:390 net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:643)
call_timer_fn (./arch/x86/include/asm/jump_label.h:27 ./include/linux/jump_label.h:207 ./include/trace/events/timer.h:127 kernel/time/timer.c:1701)
__run_timers.part.0 (kernel/time/timer.c:1752 kernel/time/timer.c:2022)
run_timer_softirq (kernel/time/timer.c:2037)
__do_softirq (./arch/x86/include/asm/jump_label.h:27 ./include/linux/jump_label.h:207 ./include/trace/events/irq.h:142 kernel/softirq.c:572)
__irq_exit_rcu (kernel/softirq.c:445 kernel/softirq.c:650)
irq_exit_rcu (kernel/softirq.c:664)
sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt (arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c:1107 (discriminator 14))

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

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How to fix CVE-2023-53781

CVE-2023-53781 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smc: Fix use-after-free in tcp_write_timer_handler(). With Eric’s ref tracker, syzbot finally found a repro for use-after-free in tcp_write_timer_handler() by kernel TCP sockets. [0] If SMC creates a kernel socket in __smc_create(), the kernel socket is supposed to be freed in smc_clcsock_release() by calling sock_release() when […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Dec 09, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Dec 09, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.