CVE-2023-53052 | cifs: fix use-after-free bug in refresh_cache_worker()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: fix use-after-free bug in refresh_cache_worker() The UAF bug occurred because we were putting DFS root sessions in cifs_umount() while DFS cache refresher was being executed. Make DFS root sessions have same lifetime as DFS tcons so we can avoid the use-after-free bug is DFS cache refresher and other places that require IPCs to get new DFS referrals on. Also, get rid of mount group handling in DFS cache as we no longer need it. This fixes below use-after-free bug catched by KASAN [ 379.946955] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __refresh_tcon.isra.0+0x10b/0xc10 [cifs] [ 379.947642] Read of size 8 at addr ffff888018f57030 by task kworker/u4:3/56 [ 379.948096] [ 379.948208] CPU: 0 PID: 56 Comm: kworker/u4:3 Not tainted 6.2.0-rc7-lku #23 [ 379.948661] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552-rebuilt.opensuse.org 04/01/2014 [ 379.949368] Workqueue: cifs-dfscache refresh_cache_worker [cifs] [ 379.949942] Call Trace: [ 379.950113] <TASK> [ 379.950260] dump_stack_lvl+0x50/0x67 [ 379.950510] print_report+0x16a/0x48e [ 379.950759] ? __virt_addr_valid+0xd8/0x160 [ 379.951040] ? __phys_addr+0x41/0x80 [ 379.951285] kasan_report+0xdb/0x110 [ 379.951533] ? __refresh_tcon.isra.0+0x10b/0xc10 [cifs] [ 379.952056] ? __refresh_tcon.isra.0+0x10b/0xc10 [cifs] [ 379.952585] __refresh_tcon.isra.0+0x10b/0xc10 [cifs] [ 379.953096] ? __pfx___refresh_tcon.isra.0+0x10/0x10 [cifs] [ 379.953637] ? __pfx___mutex_lock+0x10/0x10 [ 379.953915] ? lock_release+0xb6/0x720 [ 379.954167] ? __pfx_lock_acquire+0x10/0x10 [ 379.954443] ? refresh_cache_worker+0x34e/0x6d0 [cifs] [ 379.954960] ? __pfx_wb_workfn+0x10/0x10 [ 379.955239] refresh_cache_worker+0x4ad/0x6d0 [cifs] [ 379.955755] ? __pfx_refresh_cache_worker+0x10/0x10 [cifs] [ 379.956323] ? __pfx_lock_acquired+0x10/0x10 [ 379.956615] ? read_word_at_a_time+0xe/0x20 [ 379.956898] ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare+0x12/0x220 [ 379.957235] process_one_work+0x535/0x990 [ 379.957509] ? __pfx_process_one_work+0x10/0x10 [ 379.957812] ? lock_acquired+0xb7/0x5f0 [ 379.958069] ? __list_add_valid+0x37/0xd0 [ 379.958341] ? __list_add_valid+0x37/0xd0 [ 379.958611] worker_thread+0x8e/0x630 [ 379.958861] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 379.959148] kthread+0x17d/0x1b0 [ 379.959369] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 379.959630] ret_from_fork+0x2c/0x50 [ 379.959879] </TASK>

Published: 2025-05-02 Last update: 2025-11-12 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53052 is rated Low Risk (39.3/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.08%). 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-2023-53052

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 2026-02-26 0.02% 0.08% +0.06%
2 2025-05-03 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53052

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 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53052

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53052

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2023-53052 unimportant 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-2023-53052
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53052
suse high https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53052/
ubuntu low CVE-2023-53052 low 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, ignored 173, not-affected 114, released 94, needed 24, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53052

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53052

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.2.8 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.3:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53052

cvelogic Threat Intelligence