skbuff: Fix a race between coalescing and releasing SKBs
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 fixed, 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: skbuff: Fix a race between coalescing and releasing SKBs Commit 1effe8ca4e34 ("skbuff: fix coalescing for page_pool fragment recycling") allowed coalescing to proceed with non page pool page and page pool page when @from is cloned, i.e. to->pp_recycle --> false from->pp_recycle --> true skb_cloned(from) --> true However, it actually requires skb_cloned(@from) to hold true until coalescing finishes in this situation. If the other cloned SKB is released while the merging is in process, from_shinfo->nr_frags will be set to 0 toward the end of the function, causing the increment of frag page _refcount to be unexpectedly skipped resulting in inconsistent reference counts. Later when SKB(@to) is released, it frees the page directly even though the page pool page is still in use, leading to use-after-free or double-free errors. So it should be prohibited. The double-free error message below prompted us to investigate: BUG: Bad page state in process swapper/1 pfn:0e0d1 page:00000000c6548b28 refcount:-1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x2 pfn:0xe0d1 flags: 0xfffffc0000000(node=0|zone=1|lastcpupid=0x1fffff) raw: 000fffffc0000000 0000000000000000 ffffffff00000101 0000000000000000 raw: 0000000000000002 0000000000000000 ffffffffffffffff 0000000000000000 page dumped because: nonzero _refcount CPU: 1 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/1 Tainted: G E 6.2.0+ Call Trace: <IRQ> dump_stack_lvl+0x32/0x50 bad_page+0x69/0xf0 free_pcp_prepare+0x260/0x2f0 free_unref_page+0x20/0x1c0 skb_release_data+0x10b/0x1a0 napi_consume_skb+0x56/0x150 net_rx_action+0xf0/0x350 ? __napi_schedule+0x79/0x90 __do_softirq+0xc8/0x2b1 __irq_exit_rcu+0xb9/0xf0 common_interrupt+0x82/0xa0 </IRQ> <TASK> asm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40 RIP: 0010:default_idle+0xb/0x20
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
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 | 5.15 and later | 5.15.108, 6.1.25, 6.2.12, 6.3 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.15 and later Fixed in 5.15.108, 6.1.25, 6.2.12, 6.3 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 7
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.15 to before 5.15.108; 5.16 to before 6.1.25; 6.2 to before 6.2.12 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.3 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.3 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.3 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.3 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.3 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.3 rc6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.15 to before 5.15.108; 5.16 to before 6.1.25; 6.2 to before 6.2.12 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.3 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.3 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.3 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.3 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.3 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.3 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.15.108, 6.1.25, 6.2.12, 6.3
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2025:17896 Released 2025-10-14 · Red Hat rating Importantkpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_104_1, kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_117_1, kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_134_1, kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_79_1, and kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_92_1 security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS E4S (v.9.2) kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_104_1-1-11.el9_2, kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_117_1-1-8.el9_2, kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_134_1-1-2.el9_2 +2
- RHSA-2025:17734 Released 2025-10-13 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.9.2) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-284.142.1.el9_2, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-284.142.1.el9_2, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-284.142.1.el9_2 +10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS E4S (v.9.2) bpftool-7.0.0-284.142.1.el9_2, kernel-5.14.0-284.142.1.el9_2, kernel-64k-5.14.0-284.142.1.el9_2 +29
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.9.2) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:17734 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS E4S (v.9.2) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:17734, RHSA-2025:17896 |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-53186
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-2937-wfx7-vxfg
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
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-2023-53186 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-53186 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-2937-wfx7-vxfg · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-53186 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences