CVE-2023-53200 | netfilter: x_tables: fix percpu counter block leak on error path when creating new netns

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: x_tables: fix percpu counter block leak on error path when creating new netns Here is the stack where we allocate percpu counter block: +-< __alloc_percpu +-< xt_percpu_counter_alloc +-< find_check_entry # {arp,ip,ip6}_tables.c +-< translate_table And it can be leaked on this code path: +-> ip6t_register_table +-> translate_table # allocates percpu counter block +-> xt_register_table # fails there is no freeing of the counter block on xt_register_table fail. Note: xt_percpu_counter_free should be called to free it like we do in do_replace through cleanup_entry helper (or in __ip6t_unregister_table). Probability of hitting this error path is low AFAICS (xt_register_table can only return ENOMEM here, as it is not replacing anything, as we are creating new netns, and it is hard to imagine that all previous allocations succeeded and after that one in xt_register_table failed). But it's worth fixing even the rare leak.

Published: 2025-09-15 Last update: 2025-12-04 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-53200 is rated Low Risk (23/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2023-53200

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 2025-09-16 0.02%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-53200

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-53200

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-53200

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-53200 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-53200
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53200
suse medium CVE-2023-53200 severity moderate: SUSE including 25 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 113 product×package rows across 25 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5, … (25 product lines)): Known Not Affected 94, Will Not Fix 19. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-53200/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-53200 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 161, released 116, not-affected 78, needed 41, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-53200

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-53200

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.2, < 5.15.100 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.2.5 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-53200

cvelogic Threat Intelligence