smc: Fix use-after-free in tcp_write_timer_handler().
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
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: smc: Fix use-after-free in tcp_write_timer_handler(). With Eric's ref tracker, syzbot finally found a repro for use-after-free in tcp_write_timer_handler() by kernel TCP sockets. [0] If SMC creates a kernel socket in __smc_create(), the kernel socket is supposed to be freed in smc_clcsock_release() by calling sock_release() when we close() the parent SMC socket. However, at the end of smc_clcsock_release(), the kernel socket's sk_state might not be TCP_CLOSE. This means that we have not called inet_csk_destroy_sock() in __tcp_close() and have not stopped the TCP timers. The kernel socket's TCP timers can be fired later, so we need to hold a refcnt for net as we do for MPTCP subflows in mptcp_subflow_create_socket(). [0]: leaked reference. sk_alloc (./include/net/net_namespace.h:335 net/core/sock.c:2108) inet_create (net/ipv4/af_inet.c:319 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:244) __sock_create (net/socket.c:1546) smc_create (net/smc/af_smc.c:3269 net/smc/af_smc.c:3284) __sock_create (net/socket.c:1546) __sys_socket (net/socket.c:1634 net/socket.c:1618 net/socket.c:1661) __x64_sys_socket (net/socket.c:1672) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:120) ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in tcp_write_timer_handler (net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:378 net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:624 net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:594) Read of size 1 at addr ffff888052b65e0d by task syzrepro/18091 CPU: 0 PID: 18091 Comm: syzrepro Tainted: G W 6.3.0-rc4-01174-gb5d54eb5899a #7 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.0-1.amzn2022.0.1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <IRQ> dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:107) print_report (mm/kasan/report.c:320 mm/kasan/report.c:430) kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:538) tcp_write_timer_handler (net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:378 net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:624 net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:594) tcp_write_timer (./include/linux/spinlock.h:390 net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c:643) call_timer_fn (./arch/x86/include/asm/jump_label.h:27 ./include/linux/jump_label.h:207 ./include/trace/events/timer.h:127 kernel/time/timer.c:1701) __run_timers.part.0 (kernel/time/timer.c:1752 kernel/time/timer.c:2022) run_timer_softirq (kernel/time/timer.c:2037) __do_softirq (./arch/x86/include/asm/jump_label.h:27 ./include/linux/jump_label.h:207 ./include/trace/events/irq.h:142 kernel/softirq.c:572) __irq_exit_rcu (kernel/softirq.c:445 kernel/softirq.c:650) irq_exit_rcu (kernel/softirq.c:664) sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt (arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c:1107 (discriminator 14)) </IRQ>
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
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.2.12, 6.3
Red Hat 6 advisories
- RHSA-2026:77301 Released 2026-10-07 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS E4S (v.8.8) bpftool-4.18.0-477.172.1.el8_8, kernel-4.18.0-477.172.1.el8_8, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-477.172.1.el8_8 +14
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS TUS (v.8.8) bpftool-4.18.0-477.172.1.el8_8, kernel-4.18.0-477.172.1.el8_8, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-477.172.1.el8_8 +14
- RHSA-2026:69906 Released 2026-09-22 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS AUS (v.8.6) bpftool-4.18.0-372.216.1.el8_6, kernel-4.18.0-372.216.1.el8_6, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-372.216.1.el8_6 +14
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS EXTENSION (v.8.6) bpftool-4.18.0-372.216.1.el8_6, kernel-4.18.0-372.216.1.el8_6, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-372.216.1.el8_6 +19
- RHSA-2026:69874 Released 2026-09-22 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS AUS (v.8.4) bpftool-4.18.0-305.208.1.el8_4, kernel-4.18.0-305.208.1.el8_4, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-305.208.1.el8_4 +14
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS EXTENSION (v.8.4) bpftool-4.18.0-305.208.1.el8_4, kernel-4.18.0-305.208.1.el8_4, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-305.208.1.el8_4 +19
Show 3 more Red Hat advisories
- RHSA-2026:25121 Released 2026-06-10 · Red Hat rating Criticalkernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) bpftool-4.18.0-553.132.1.el8_10, kernel-4.18.0-553.132.1.el8_10, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-553.132.1.el8_10 +19
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) kernel-tools-libs-devel-4.18.0-553.132.1.el8_10
- RHSA-2026:25120 Released 2026-06-10 · Red Hat rating Criticalkernel-rt security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux NFV (v. 8) kernel-rt-4.18.0-553.132.1.rt7.473.el8_10, kernel-rt-core-4.18.0-553.132.1.rt7.473.el8_10, kernel-rt-debug-4.18.0-553.132.1.rt7.473.el8_10 +9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux RT (v. 8) kernel-rt-4.18.0-553.132.1.rt7.473.el8_10, kernel-rt-core-4.18.0-553.132.1.rt7.473.el8_10, kernel-rt-debug-4.18.0-553.132.1.rt7.473.el8_10 +7
- RHSA-2025:20518 Released 2025-11-11 · Red Hat rating Moderatekernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) kernel-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7, kernel-64k-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7, kernel-64k-core-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7 +28
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7, libperf-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7, kernel-rt-64k-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7, kernel-rt-64k-core-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-611.5.1.el9_7 +9
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:20518 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:25121 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:20518 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS AUS (v.8.4) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:69874 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS AUS (v.8.6) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:69906 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS E4S (v.8.8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77301 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS EXTENSION (v.8.4) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:69874 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS EXTENSION (v.8.6) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:69906 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS TUS (v.8.8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77301 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:25121 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:20518 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux NFV (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:25120 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux RT (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:25120 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:20518 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:20518 |
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-53781
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-3h9m-xfjq-9f2f
- 2026-10-07 Fix available: RHSA-2026:77301 · Red Hat
- 2026-10-07 Fix available: Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS E4S (v.8.8), Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS TUS (v.8.8) · Red Hat
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/Linux@08f057bd1e559cdb388c77b18de3eea3d3d8cb24, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
References
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- 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
Sources
- CVE-2023-53781 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-53781 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-3h9m-xfjq-9f2f · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-53781 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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