bpf, sockmap: Reject sk_msg egress redirects to non-TCP sockets
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-476.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, sockmap: Reject sk_msg egress redirects to non-TCP sockets With a SOCKMAP/SOCKHASH map and an sk_msg program user can steer messages sent from one TCP socket (s1) to actually egress from another TCP socket (s2): tcp_bpf_sendmsg(s1) // = sk_prot->sendmsg tcp_bpf_send_verdict(s1) // __SK_REDIRECT case tcp_bpf_sendmsg_redir(s2) tcp_bpf_push_locked(s2) tcp_bpf_push(s2) tcp_rate_check_app_limited(s2) // expects tcp_sock tcp_sendmsg_locked(s2) // ditto There is a hard-coded assumption in the call-chain, that the egress socket (s2) is a TCP socket. However in commit 122e6c79efe1 ("sock_map: Update sock type checks for UDP") we have enabled redirects to non-TCP sockets. This was done for the sake of BPF sk_skb programs. There was no indention to support sk_msg send-to-egress use case. As a result, attempts to send-to-egress through a non-TCP socket lead to a crash due to invalid downcast from sock to tcp_sock: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 000000000000002f ... Call Trace: <TASK> ? show_regs+0x60/0x70 ? __die+0x1f/0x70 ? page_fault_oops+0x80/0x160 ? do_user_addr_fault+0x2d7/0x800 ? rcu_is_watching+0x11/0x50 ? exc_page_fault+0x70/0x1c0 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x27/0x30 ? tcp_tso_segs+0x14/0xa0 tcp_write_xmit+0x67/0xce0 __tcp_push_pending_frames+0x32/0xf0 tcp_push+0x107/0x140 tcp_sendmsg_locked+0x99f/0xbb0 tcp_bpf_push+0x19d/0x3a0 tcp_bpf_sendmsg_redir+0x55/0xd0 tcp_bpf_send_verdict+0x407/0x550 tcp_bpf_sendmsg+0x1a1/0x390 inet_sendmsg+0x6a/0x70 sock_sendmsg+0x9d/0xc0 ? sockfd_lookup_light+0x12/0x80 __sys_sendto+0x10e/0x160 ? syscall_enter_from_user_mode+0x20/0x60 ? __this_cpu_preempt_check+0x13/0x20 ? lockdep_hardirqs_on+0x82/0x110 __x64_sys_sendto+0x1f/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x38/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd Reject selecting a non-TCP sockets as redirect target from a BPF sk_msg program to prevent the crash. When attempted, user will receive an EACCES error from send/sendto/sendmsg() syscall.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.13 and later | 5.15.135, 6.1.57, 6.5.7, 6.6 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.13 and later Fixed in 5.15.135, 6.1.57, 6.5.7, 6.6 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 5
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.13 to before 5.15.135; 5.16 to before 6.1.57; 6.2 to before 6.5.7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.6:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.6 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.6:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.6 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.6:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.6 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.6:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.6 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.13 to before 5.15.135; 5.16 to before 6.1.57; 6.2 to before 6.5.7 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.6:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.6 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.6:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.6 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.6:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.6 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.6:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.6 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.15.135, 6.1.57, 6.5.7, 6.6
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-52523
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-fh4f-4w54-vgrf
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2023-52523 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-52523 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-fh4f-4w54-vgrf · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-52523 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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