Linux Kernel up to 6.5.3 net __inet_del_ifa memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.4.256/5.10.194/5.15.131/6.1.53/6.5.3. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function __inet_del_ifa of the component net. This manipulation causes memory leak. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2023-53995. There is no available exploit. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.4.256/5.10.194/5.15.131/6.1.53/6.5.3. Affected by this vulnerability is the function __inet_del_ifa of the component net. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ipv4: fix one memleak in __inet_del_ifa() I got the below warning when do fuzzing test: unregister_netdevice: waiting for bond0 to become free. Usage count = 2 It can be repoduced via: ip link add bond0 type bond sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.bond0.promote_secondaries=1 ip addr add 4.117.174.103/0 scope 0x40 dev bond0 ip addr add 192.168.100.111/255.255.255.254 scope 0 dev bond0 ip addr add 0.0.0.4/0 scope 0x40 secondary dev bond0 ip addr del 4.117.174.103/0 scope 0x40 dev bond0 ip link delete bond0 type bond In this reproduction test case, an incorrect 'last_prim' is found in __inet_del_ifa(), as a result, the secondary address(0.0.0.4/0 scope 0x40) is lost. The memory of the secondary address is leaked and the reference of in_device and net_device is leaked. Fix this problem: Look for 'last_prim' starting at location of the deleted IP and inserting the promoted IP into the location of 'last_prim'.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-53995 since 12/24/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 279941 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-53995), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.4.257, 5.10.195, 5.15.132, 6.1.54 or 6.5.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 5624f26a3574500ce23929cb2c9976a0dec9920a/7c8ddcdab1b900bed69cad6beef477fff116289e/2f1e86014d0cc084886c36a2d77bc620e2d42618/980f8445479814509a3cd55a8eabaae1c9030a4c/42652af5360d30b43b06057c193739e7dfb18f42/ac28b1ec6135649b5d78b028e47264cb3ebca5ea 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 (279941) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2920). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.4.256
• 5.10.194
• 5.15.131
• 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
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.1.17
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.1.20
• 6.1.21
• 6.1.22
• 6.1.23
• 6.1.24
• 6.1.25
• 6.1.26
• 6.1.27
• 6.1.28
• 6.1.29
• 6.1.30
• 6.1.31
• 6.1.32
• 6.1.33
• 6.1.34
• 6.1.35
• 6.1.36
• 6.1.37
• 6.1.38
• 6.1.39
• 6.1.40
• 6.1.41
• 6.1.42
• 6.1.43
• 6.1.44
• 6.1.45
• 6.1.46
• 6.1.47
• 6.1.48
• 6.1.49
• 6.1.50
• 6.1.51
• 6.1.52
• 6.1.53
• 6.5.0
• 6.5.1
• 6.5.2
• 6.5.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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