Linux Kernel up to 6.1.8 nfc local_cleanup use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.8. This affects the function local_cleanup of the component nfc. The manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2023-53023. There is not any exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.8. Affected is the function local_cleanup of the component nfc. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

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)

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2023-53023 since 03/27/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 12/07/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 237099 (SUSE SLES12 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2025:01600-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 4.14.305, 4.19.272, 5.4.231, 5.10.166, 5.15.91 or 6.1.9 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch b09ae26f08aaf2d85f96ea7f90ddd3387f62216f/54f7be61584b8ec4c6df405f479495b9397bae4a/a59cdbda3714e11aa3ab579132864c4c8c6d54f9/ad1baab3a5c03692d22ce446f38596a126377f6a/7f129927feaf7c10b1c38bbce630172e9a08c834/d3605282ec3502ec8847915eb2cf1f340493ff79/4bb4db7f3187c6e3de6b229ffc87cdb30a2d22b6 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (237099) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0649). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Dell Avamar
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 4.14.304
• 4.19.271
• 5.4.230
• 5.10.165
• 5.15.0
• 5.15.1
• 5.15.2
• 5.15.3
• 5.15.4
• 5.15.5
• 5.15.6
• 5.15.7
• 5.15.8
• 5.15.9
• 5.15.10
• 5.15.11
• 5.15.12
• 5.15.13
• 5.15.14
• 5.15.15
• 5.15.16
• 5.15.17
• 5.15.18
• 5.15.19
• 5.15.20
• 5.15.21
• 5.15.22
• 5.15.23
• 5.15.24
• 5.15.25
• 5.15.26
• 5.15.27
• 5.15.28
• 5.15.29
• 5.15.30
• 5.15.31
• 5.15.32
• 5.15.33
• 5.15.34
• 5.15.35
• 5.15.36
• 5.15.37
• 5.15.38
• 5.15.39
• 5.15.40
• 5.15.41
• 5.15.42
• 5.15.43
• 5.15.44
• 5.15.45
• 5.15.46
• 5.15.47
• 5.15.48
• 5.15.49
• 5.15.50
• 5.15.51
• 5.15.52
• 5.15.53
• 5.15.54
• 5.15.55
• 5.15.56
• 5.15.57
• 5.15.58
• 5.15.59
• 5.15.60
• 5.15.61
• 5.15.62
• 5.15.63
• 5.15.64
• 5.15.65
• 5.15.66
• 5.15.67
• 5.15.68
• 5.15.69
• 5.15.70
• 5.15.71
• 5.15.72
• 5.15.73
• 5.15.74
• 5.15.75
• 5.15.76
• 5.15.77
• 5.15.78
• 5.15.79
• 5.15.80
• 5.15.81
• 5.15.82
• 5.15.83
• 5.15.84
• 5.15.85
• 5.15.86
• 5.15.87
• 5.15.88
• 5.15.89
• 5.15.90
• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Exploitinginfo

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Entryinfo

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