Linux: Use After Free
CVE-2023-53107 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 717d20710596b5b26595ede454d1105fa176f4a4, 6e755b56896df48b0fae0db275e148f8d8aa7d6f, 7c10131803e45269ddc6c817f19ed649110f3cae as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.2% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Linux to 717d20710596b5b26595ede454d1105fa176f4a4 or 6e755b56896df48b0fae0db275e148f8d8aa7d6f or 7c10131803e45269ddc6c817f19ed649110f3cae, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 6.1.21 or 6.2.8, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 718a18a0c8a67f97781e40bdef7cdd055c430996 up to, but not including, 717d20710596b5b26595ede454d1105fa176f4a4; 718a18a0c8a67f97781e40bdef7cdd055c430996 up to, but not including, 6e755b56896df48b0fae0db275e148f8d8aa7d6f; 718a18a0c8a67f97781e40bdef7cdd055c430996 up to, but not including, 7c10131803e45269ddc6c817f19ed649110f3cae; 5.18 | 717d20710596b5b26595ede454d1105fa176f4a4, 6e755b56896df48b0fae0db275e148f8d8aa7d6f, 7c10131803e45269ddc6c817f19ed649110f3cae |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 5.18 up to, but not including, 6.1.21; 6.2 up to, but not including, 6.2.8; 6.3 | 6.1.21, 6.2.8 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | CNA |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | NVD |
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: veth: Fix use after free in XDP_REDIRECT Commit 718a18a0c8a6 ("veth: Rework veth_xdp_rcv_skb in order to accept non-linear skb") introduced a bug where it tried to use pskb_expand_head() if the headroom was less than XDP_PACKET_HEADROOM. This however uses kmalloc to expand the head, which will later allow consume_skb() to free the skb while is it still in use by AF_XDP. Previously if the headroom was less than XDP_PACKET_HEADROOM we continued on to allocate a new skb from pages so this restores that behavior. BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __xsk_rcv+0x18d/0x2c0 Read of size 78 at addr ffff888976250154 by task napi/iconduit-g/148640 CPU: 5 PID: 148640 Comm: napi/iconduit-g Kdump: loaded Tainted: G O 6.1.4-cloudflare-kasan-2023.1.2 #1 Hardware name: Quanta Computer Inc. QuantaPlex T41S-2U/S2S-MB, BIOS S2S_3B10.03 06/21/2018 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x34/0x48 print_report+0x170/0x473 ? __xsk_rcv+0x18d/0x2c0 kasan_report+0xad/0x130 ? __xsk_rcv+0x18d/0x2c0 kasan_check_range+0x149/0x1a0 memcpy+0x20/0x60 __xsk_rcv+0x18d/0x2c0 __xsk_map_redirect+0x1f3/0x490 ? veth_xdp_rcv_skb+0x89c/0x1ba0 [veth] xdp_do_redirect+0x5ca/0xd60 veth_xdp_rcv_skb+0x935/0x1ba0 [veth] ? __netif_receive_skb_list_core+0x671/0x920 ? veth_xdp+0x670/0x670 [veth] veth_xdp_rcv+0x304/0xa20 [veth] ? do_xdp_generic+0x150/0x150 ? veth_xdp_rcv_one+0xde0/0xde0 [veth] ? _raw_spin_lock_bh+0xe0/0xe0 ? newidle_balance+0x887/0xe30 ? __perf_event_task_sched_in+0xdb/0x800 veth_poll+0x139/0x571 [veth] ? veth_xdp_rcv+0xa20/0xa20 [veth] ? _raw_spin_unlock+0x39/0x70 ? finish_task_switch.isra.0+0x17e/0x7d0 ? __switch_to+0x5cf/0x1070 ? __schedule+0x95b/0x2640 ? io_schedule_timeout+0x160/0x160 __napi_poll+0xa1/0x440 napi_threaded_poll+0x3d1/0x460 ? __napi_poll+0x440/0x440 ? __kthread_parkme+0xc6/0x1f0 ? __napi_poll+0x440/0x440 kthread+0x2a2/0x340 ? kthread_complete_and_exit+0x20/0x20 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 </TASK> Freed by task 148640: kasan_save_stack+0x23/0x50 kasan_set_track+0x21/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x2a/0x40 ____kasan_slab_free+0x169/0x1d0 slab_free_freelist_hook+0xd2/0x190 __kmem_cache_free+0x1a1/0x2f0 skb_release_data+0x449/0x600 consume_skb+0x9f/0x1c0 veth_xdp_rcv_skb+0x89c/0x1ba0 [veth] veth_xdp_rcv+0x304/0xa20 [veth] veth_poll+0x139/0x571 [veth] __napi_poll+0xa1/0x440 napi_threaded_poll+0x3d1/0x460 kthread+0x2a2/0x340 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff888976250000 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-2k of size 2048 The buggy address is located 340 bytes inside of 2048-byte region [ffff888976250000, ffff888976250800) The buggy address belongs to the physical page: page:00000000ae18262a refcount:2 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x976250 head:00000000ae18262a order:3 compound_mapcount:0 compound_pincount:0 flags: 0x2ffff800010200(slab|head|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x1ffff) raw: 002ffff800010200 0000000000000000 dead000000000122 ffff88810004cf00 raw: 0000000000000000 0000000080080008 00000002ffffffff 0000000000000000 page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected Memory state around the buggy address: ffff888976250000: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ffff888976250080: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb > ffff888976250100: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ^ ffff888976250180: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ffff888976250200: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Use After Free
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory belongs to the code that operates on the new pointer.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
- When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
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