CVE-2023-53781
High · 7.8CVSS
7.8
EPSS
0.1%
Published
Dec 9, 2025
CISA due date
—
Cloudanix analysis
A bug in how certain network sockets are cleaned up can let the system crash or be taken over if an attacker triggers the right sequence of network operations.
- Exploitation
- Local Privilege
- Attacker needs
- Local User
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Impact
- Full Compromise
- Component
- OS kernel
- Class
- Use After Free
- Remediation
- Upgrade
- Effort
- Medium
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
Use-after-free in tcp_write_timer_handler caused by SMC kernel sockets not reaching TCP_CLOSE state before sock_release, leaving TCP timers active without holding net refcount.
Why it matters to the business
Kernel memory corruption leading to crashes, denial of service, or potential code execution on systems using SMC sockets; low urgency due to no known exploitation.
How an attack unfolds
Attacker triggers SMC socket creation and close sequence that leaves TCP timers running; later timer firing dereferences freed socket structure, potentially allowing controlled memory access.
How to fix it
Update to fixed kernel versions that ensure net refcount is held for SMC kernel sockets; for listed webkit2gtk packages apply 2.20.1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 or 2.20.0-2 as applicable.
How to confirm the fix worked
Confirm kernel version contains the SMC refcount fix; reproduce with syzbot-style SMC socket close and timer checks; verify no KASAN reports on tcp_write_timer_handler.
Typical attack path
- Create SMC socket via syscall
- Trigger close path leaving sk_state != TCP_CLOSE
- Wait for tcp_write_timer to fire on freed socket
- Leverage resulting slab use-after-free for memory corruption
How to detect it
Search kernel logs for KASAN reports mentioning tcp_write_timer_handler and slab-use-after-free; look for SMC socket creation traces followed by timer softirq crashes.
What your security team should do
- Apply kernel and webkit2gtk updates immediately on affected Ubuntu releases
- Monitor for SMC-related kernel oops or KASAN reports
- Restrict SMC socket usage where not required
The record
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: <IRQ> 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)) </IRQ>
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Kernel | 4.11.0 | 6.2.12 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP4 | kernel-default | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | kernel-64kb | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | kernel-default | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | kernel-default-base | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1.150400.24.98.3 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | kernel-docs | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | kernel-source | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | kernel-syms | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-64kb | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-default | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-default-base | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1.150400.24.98.3 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-docs | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-source | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-syms | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP4 | kernel-default | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP4 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP4_Update_48 | 0 | 1-150400.9.7.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | kernel-default | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1.150400.24.98.3 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | kernel-rt | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.15.142.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.15.142.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | kernel-default | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1.150400.24.98.3 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | kernel-rt | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.15.142.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.15.142.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | kernel-rt | 0 | 5.14.21-150500.13.118.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 5.14.21-150500.13.118.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-64kb | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-default | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-default-base | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1.150400.24.98.3 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-docs | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-source | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-syms | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | kernel-default | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1.150400.24.98.3 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | kernel-docs | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | kernel-source | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | kernel-syms | 0 | 5.14.21-150400.24.194.1 |
Related vulnerabilities
- CVE-2026-23226 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: add chann_lock… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23225 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched/mmcid: Don't… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23230 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: split… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23224 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: erofs: fix UAF issue… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23227 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/exynos: vidi: use… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23223 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfs: fix UAF in… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23228 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: server: fix leak… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23229 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: virtio - Add… Also affects Kernel