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Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability · CVE-2023-53698

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: fix refcount underflow in error path Fix a refcount underflow problem reported by syzbot that…

Published Oct 22, 2025 · catalog updated Oct 15, 2026 · the affected product

Check if you run it

No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2023-53698. EPSS is 0.16%. Act only if a listed version of the affected product is installed.

Gaps on this record

  • No plain product name is stored. The page cannot tell you which product to check.
  • No version range is stored. A customer cannot check an installed version against this record.
  • No vendor fix or required action is stored. Compare the linked advisory before you change production.
Severity
High7.8
Known exploitation
Not in CISA/VulnCheck KEV
EPSS
0.16%
Remediation
Not established
Affected products
See sources for product scope

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: fix refcount underflow in error path Fix a refcount underflow problem reported by syzbot that can happen when a system is running out of memory. If xp_alloc_tx_descs() fails, and it can only fail due to not having enough memory, then the error path is triggered. In this error path, the refcount of the pool is decremented as it has incremented before. However, the reference to the pool in the socket was not nulled. This means that when the socket is closed later, the socket teardown logic will think that there is a pool attached to the socket and try to decrease the refcount again, leading to a refcount underflow. I chose this fix as it involved adding just a single line. Another option would have been to move xp_get_pool() and the assignment of xs->pool to after the if-statement and using xs_umem->pool instead of xs->pool in the whole if-statement resulting in somewhat simpler code, but this would have led to much more churn in the code base perhaps making it harder to backport.

No affected version ranges are stored yet. Use the vendor advisory before you decide this record does not apply.

How to fix CVE-2023-53698

What to do

Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.

Should you patch?

No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2023-53698. EPSS is 0.16%. Act only if a listed version of the affected product is installed.

Which versions are affected?

Affected version ranges are not on this record. Compare the installed version with the linked vendor advisory before you change production.

What should an analyst verify?

No weakness class is stored. EPSS 0.16%. There is no CISA KEV listing. No Exploit-DB or Metasploit reference is linked. Use the source links for the original advisory.

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Oct 22, 2025 · NIST NVD

    Detected

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: fix refcount underflow in error path Fix a refcount underflow problem reported by syzbot that can happen when a system is running out of memory. If xp_alloc_tx_descs() fails, and it can only fail due to not having enough memory, then the error path is triggered. In this error path, the refcount of the pool is decremented as i

  2. Oct 15, 2026 · NIST NVD

    Updated

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: fix refcount underflow in error path Fix a refcount underflow problem reported by syzbot that can happen when a system is running out of memory. If xp_alloc_tx_descs() fails, and it can only fail due to not having enough memory, then the error path is triggered. In this error path, the refcount of the pool is decremented as i

Sources

  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2023-53698

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2023-53698

    30-day exploitation probability 0.16%

    first.org
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2023-53698

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: fix refcount underflow in error path Fix a refcount underflow problem reported by syzbot that can happen when a system is running out of memory. If xp_alloc_tx_descs() fails, and it can only fail due to no

    nvd.nist.gov

References

Freshness

Last verified in this catalog Oct 21, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.