CVE-2023-53023 | net: nfc: Fix use-after-free in local_cleanup()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: nfc: Fix use-after-free in local_cleanup() Fix a use-after-free that occurs in kfree_skb() called from local_cleanup(). This could happen when killing nfc daemon (e.g. neard) after detaching an nfc device. When detaching an nfc device, local_cleanup() called from nfc_llcp_unregister_device() frees local->rx_pending and decreases local->ref by kref_put() in nfc_llcp_local_put(). In the terminating process, nfc daemon releases all sockets and it leads to decreasing local->ref. After the last release of local->ref, local_cleanup() called from local_release() frees local->rx_pending again, which leads to the bug. Setting local->rx_pending to NULL in local_cleanup() could prevent use-after-free when local_cleanup() is called twice. Found by a modified version of syzkaller. BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in kfree_skb() Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:106) print_address_description.constprop.0.cold (mm/kasan/report.c:306) kasan_check_range (mm/kasan/generic.c:189) kfree_skb (net/core/skbuff.c:955) local_cleanup (net/nfc/llcp_core.c:159) nfc_llcp_local_put.part.0 (net/nfc/llcp_core.c:172) nfc_llcp_local_put (net/nfc/llcp_core.c:181) llcp_sock_destruct (net/nfc/llcp_sock.c:959) __sk_destruct (net/core/sock.c:2133) sk_destruct (net/core/sock.c:2181) __sk_free (net/core/sock.c:2192) sk_free (net/core/sock.c:2203) llcp_sock_release (net/nfc/llcp_sock.c:646) __sock_release (net/socket.c:650) sock_close (net/socket.c:1365) __fput (fs/file_table.c:306) task_work_run (kernel/task_work.c:179) ptrace_notify (kernel/signal.c:2354) syscall_exit_to_user_mode_prepare (kernel/entry/common.c:278) syscall_exit_to_user_mode (kernel/entry/common.c:296) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/common.c:86) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:106) Allocated by task 4719: kasan_save_stack (mm/kasan/common.c:45) __kasan_slab_alloc (mm/kasan/common.c:325) slab_post_alloc_hook (mm/slab.h:766) kmem_cache_alloc_node (mm/slub.c:3497) __alloc_skb (net/core/skbuff.c:552) pn533_recv_response (drivers/nfc/pn533/usb.c:65) __usb_hcd_giveback_urb (drivers/usb/core/hcd.c:1671) usb_giveback_urb_bh (drivers/usb/core/hcd.c:1704) tasklet_action_common.isra.0 (kernel/softirq.c:797) __do_softirq (kernel/softirq.c:571) Freed by task 1901: kasan_save_stack (mm/kasan/common.c:45) kasan_set_track (mm/kasan/common.c:52) kasan_save_free_info (mm/kasan/genericdd.c:518) __kasan_slab_free (mm/kasan/common.c:236) kmem_cache_free (mm/slub.c:3809) kfree_skbmem (net/core/skbuff.c:874) kfree_skb (net/core/skbuff.c:931) local_cleanup (net/nfc/llcp_core.c:159) nfc_llcp_unregister_device (net/nfc/llcp_core.c:1617) nfc_unregister_device (net/nfc/core.c:1179) pn53x_unregister_nfc (drivers/nfc/pn533/pn533.c:2846) pn533_usb_disconnect (drivers/nfc/pn533/usb.c:579) usb_unbind_interface (drivers/usb/core/driver.c:458) device_release_driver_internal (drivers/base/dd.c:1279) bus_remove_device (drivers/base/bus.c:529) device_del (drivers/base/core.c:3665) usb_disable_device (drivers/usb/core/message.c:1420) usb_disconnect (drivers/usb/core.c:2261) hub_event (drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5833) process_one_work (arch/x86/include/asm/jump_label.h:27 include/linux/jump_label.h:212 include/trace/events/workqueue.h:108 kernel/workqueue.c:2281) worker_thread (include/linux/list.h:282 kernel/workqueue.c:2423) kthread (kernel/kthread.c:319) ret_from_fork (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:301)

Published: 2025-03-27 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53023 is rated Low Risk (33.2/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.16%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-53023

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.01% 0.16% +0.15%
2 2025-03-28 0.01%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53023

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53023

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53023

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-53023 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-53023
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53023
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53023/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-53023 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, released 154, ignored 149, not-affected 98, needed 4, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53023

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53023

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 3.9, < 4.14.305 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.15, < 4.19.272 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.231 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.166 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.91 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.9 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53023

cvelogic Threat Intelligence