Read the docs
TI-2023-29973 Aliases CVE-2023-53685GHSA-q99f-whjq-3rrx

tun: Fix memory leak for detached NAPI queue.

Priority LOW 24CWE-401Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-401.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tun: Fix memory leak for detached NAPI queue. syzkaller reported [0] memory leaks of sk and skb related to the TUN device with no repro, but we can reproduce it easily with: struct ifreq ifr = {} int fd_tun, fd_tmp; char buf[4] = {}; fd_tun = openat(AT_FDCWD, "/dev/net/tun", O_WRONLY, 0); ifr.ifr_flags = IFF_TUN | IFF_NAPI | IFF_MULTI_QUEUE; ioctl(fd_tun, TUNSETIFF, &ifr); ifr.ifr_flags = IFF_DETACH_QUEUE; ioctl(fd_tun, TUNSETQUEUE, &ifr); fd_tmp = socket(AF_PACKET, SOCK_PACKET, 0); ifr.ifr_flags = IFF_UP; ioctl(fd_tmp, SIOCSIFFLAGS, &ifr); write(fd_tun, buf, sizeof(buf)); close(fd_tun); If we enable NAPI and multi-queue on a TUN device, we can put skb into tfile->sk.sk_write_queue after the queue is detached. We should prevent it by checking tfile->detached before queuing skb. Note this must be done under tfile->sk.sk_write_queue.lock because write() and ioctl(IFF_DETACH_QUEUE) can run concurrently. Otherwise, there would be a small race window: write() ioctl(IFF_DETACH_QUEUE) `- tun_get_user `- __tun_detach |- if (tfile->detached) |- tun_disable_queue | `-> false | `- tfile->detached = tun | `- tun_queue_purge |- spin_lock_bh(&queue->lock) `- __skb_queue_tail(queue, skb) Another solution is to call tun_queue_purge() when closing and reattaching the detached queue, but it could paper over another problems. Also, we do the same kind of test for IFF_NAPI_FRAGS. [0]: unreferenced object 0xffff88801edbc800 (size 2048): comm "syz-executor.1", pid 33269, jiffies 4295743834 (age 18.756s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 07 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ...@............ backtrace: [<000000008c16ea3d>] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slab_common.c:965 [inline] [<000000008c16ea3d>] __kmalloc+0x4a/0x130 mm/slab_common.c:979 [<000000003addde56>] kmalloc include/linux/slab.h:563 [inline] [<000000003addde56>] sk_prot_alloc+0xef/0x1b0 net/core/sock.c:2035 [<000000003e20621f>] sk_alloc+0x36/0x2f0 net/core/sock.c:2088 [<0000000028e43843>] tun_chr_open+0x3d/0x190 drivers/net/tun.c:3438 [<000000001b0f1f28>] misc_open+0x1a6/0x1f0 drivers/char/misc.c:165 [<000000004376f706>] chrdev_open+0x111/0x300 fs/char_dev.c:414 [<00000000614d379f>] do_dentry_open+0x2f9/0x750 fs/open.c:920 [<000000008eb24774>] do_open fs/namei.c:3636 [inline] [<000000008eb24774>] path_openat+0x143f/0x1a30 fs/namei.c:3791 [<00000000955077b5>] do_filp_open+0xce/0x1c0 fs/namei.c:3818 [<00000000b78973b0>] do_sys_openat2+0xf0/0x260 fs/open.c:1356 [<00000000057be699>] do_sys_open fs/open.c:1372 [inline] [<00000000057be699>] __do_sys_openat fs/open.c:1388 [inline] [<00000000057be699>] __se_sys_openat fs/open.c:1383 [inline] [<00000000057be699>] __x64_sys_openat+0x83/0xf0 fs/open.c:1383 [<00000000a7d2182d>] do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] [<00000000a7d2182d>] do_syscall_64+0x3c/0x90 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 [<000000004cc4e8c4>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc unreferenced object 0xffff88802f671700 (size 240): comm "syz-executor.1", pid 33269, jiffies 4295743854 (age 18.736s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 68 c9 db 1e 80 88 ff ff 68 c9 db 1e 80 88 ff ff h.......h....... 00 c0 7b 2f 80 88 ff ff 00 c8 db 1e 80 88 ff ff ..{/............ backtrace: [<00000000e9d9fdb6>] __alloc_skb+0x223/0x250 net/core/skbuff.c:644 [<000000002c3e4e0b>] alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1288 [inline] [<000000002c3e4e0b>] alloc_skb_with_frags+0x6f/0x350 net/core/skbuff.c:6378 [<00000000825f98d7>] sock_alloc_send_pskb+0x3ac/0x3e0 net/core/sock.c:2729 [<00000000e9eb3df3>] tun_alloc_skb drivers/net/tun.c:1529 [inline] [< ---truncated---

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00146 3rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.1.30, 6.3.4, 6.4Red Hat: 4 without a fix

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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux3.8 and later6.1.30, 6.3.4, 6.4Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 3.8 and later Fixed in 6.1.30, 6.3.4, 6.4 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 3

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*3.8 to before 6.1.30; 6.2 to before 6.3.4VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.4:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*6.4 rc1VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.4:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*6.4 rc2VulnerableLinux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.8 to before 6.1.30; 6.2 to before 6.3.4 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.4:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.4 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.4:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.4 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.30, 6.3.4, 6.4

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Not affected: 1 product
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-53685
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-q99f-whjq-3rrx
  3. 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed

References

  • 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
See all 15278 →

Sources