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🛡️ CVE-2023-53401 — kernel

🟡 CVSS 4.7 — Medium ✅ No Known Exploit NVD
4.7
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

mm: kmem: fix a NULL pointer dereference in obj_stock_flush_required()

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

mm: kmem: fix a NULL pointer dereference in obj_stock_flush_required()

KCSAN found an issue in obj_stock_flush_required():

stock->cached_objcg can be reset between the check and dereference:

==================================================================

BUG: KCSAN: data-race in drain_all_stock / drain_obj_stock

write to 0xffff888237c2a2f8 of 8 bytes by task 19625 on cpu 0:

drain_obj_stock+0x408/0x4e0 mm/memcontrol.c:3306

refill_obj_stock+0x9c/0x1e0 mm/memcontrol.c:3340

obj_cgroup_uncharge+0xe/0x10 mm/memcontrol.c:3408

memcg_slab_free_hook mm/slab.h:587 [inline]

__cache_free mm/slab.c:3373 [inline]

__do_kmem_cache_free mm/slab.c:3577 [inline]

kmem_cache_free+0x105/0x280 mm/slab.c:3602

__d_free fs/dcache.c:298 [inline]

dentry_free fs/dcache.c:375 [inline]

__dentry_kill+0x422/0x4a0 fs/dcache.c:621

dentry_kill+0x8d/0x1e0

dput+0x118/0x1f0 fs/dcache.c:913

__fput+0x3bf/0x570 fs/file_table.c:329

____fput+0x15/0x20 fs/file_table.c:349

task_work_run+0x123/0x160 kernel/task_work.c:179

resume_user_mode_work include/linux/resume_user_mode.h:49 [inline]

exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xcf/0xe0 kernel/entry/common.c:171

exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x6a/0xa0 kernel/entry/common.c:203

__syscall_exit_to_user_mode_work kernel/entry/common.c:285 [inline]

syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x26/0x140 kernel/entry/common.c:296

do_syscall_64+0x4d/0xc0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:86

entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

read to 0xffff888237c2a2f8 of 8 bytes by task 19632 on cpu 1:

obj_stock_flush_required mm/memcontrol.c:3319 [inline]

drain_all_stock+0x174/0x2a0 mm/memcontrol.c:2361

try_charge_memcg+0x6d0/0xd10 mm/memcontrol.c:2703

try_charge mm/memcontrol.c:2837 [inline]

mem_cgroup_charge_skmem+0x51/0x140 mm/memcontrol.c:7290

sock_reserve_memory+0xb1/0x390 net/core/sock.c:1025

sk_setsockopt+0x800/0x1e70 net/core/sock.c:1525

udp_lib_setsockopt+0x99/0x6c0 net/ipv4/udp.c:2692

udp_setsockopt+0x73/0xa0 net/ipv4/udp.c:2817

sock_common_setsockopt+0x61/0x70 net/core/sock.c:3668

__sys_setsockopt+0x1c3/0x230 net/socket.c:2271

__do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2282 [inline]

__se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2279 [inline]

__x64_sys_setsockopt+0x66/0x80 net/socket.c:2279

do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]

do_syscall_64+0x41/0xc0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80

entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

value changed: 0xffff8881382d52c0 -> 0xffff888138893740

Reported by Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer on:

CPU: 1 PID: 19632 Comm: syz-executor.0 Not tainted 6.3.0-rc2-syzkaller-00387-g534293368afa #0

Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 03/02/2023

Fix it by using READ_ONCE()/WRITE_ONCE() for all accesses to

stock->cached_objcg.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is high, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

  • Attack vector: Local — a local account, shell or session on the host is needed.
  • Attack complexity: High — the attacker first has to win a race, learn a secret or otherwise prepare the target.
  • Privileges required: Low — an ordinary user account is enough.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: None.
  • Integrity impact: None.
  • Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Affected software

CVE-2023-53401 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • kernel (from 6.2.0 up to 6.4.10)
  • linux-kernel (from 6.2 up to 6.4.10)

Timeline and source

Published on 18 September 2025 and last revised on 12 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.

References

git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
github.com (Advisory)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
git.kernel.org (Package)

Other advisories for this package

kernel has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

Details

Severity Medium
CVSS Score 4.7
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE N/A
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2025-09-18
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-08-12

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
kernel 6.2.0 6.4.10
linux-kernel 6.2 6.4.10

Similar Threats

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ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

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