CVE-2023-53186

MEDIUM
Published Sep 15, 2025 Modified Dec 2, 2025 CWE-362

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: skbuff: Fix a race between coalescing and releasing SKBs Commit 1effe8ca4e34 ("skbuff: fix coalescing for page_pool fragment recycling") allowed coalescing to proceed with non page pool page and page pool page when @from is cloned, i.e. to->pp_recycle --> false from->pp_recycle --> true skb_cloned(from) --> true However, it actually requires skb_cloned(@from) to hold true until coalescing finishes in this situation. If the other cloned SKB is released while the merging is in process, from_shinfo->nr_frags will be set to 0 toward the end of the function, causing the increment of frag page _refcount to be unexpectedly skipped resulting in inconsistent reference counts. Later when SKB(@to) is released, it frees the page directly even though the page pool page is still in use, leading to use-after-free or double-free errors. So it should be prohibited. The double-free error message below prompted us to investigate: BUG: Bad page state in process swapper/1 pfn:0e0d1 page:00000000c6548b28 refcount:-1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x2 pfn:0xe0d1 flags: 0xfffffc0000000(node=0|zone=1|lastcpupid=0x1fffff) raw: 000fffffc0000000 0000000000000000 ffffffff00000101 0000000000000000 raw: 0000000000000002 0000000000000000 ffffffffffffffff 0000000000000000 page dumped because: nonzero _refcount CPU: 1 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/1 Tainted: G E 6.2.0+ Call Trace: <IRQ> dump_stack_lvl+0x32/0x50 bad_page+0x69/0xf0 free_pcp_prepare+0x260/0x2f0 free_unref_page+0x20/0x1c0 skb_release_data+0x10b/0x1a0 napi_consume_skb+0x56/0x150 net_rx_action+0xf0/0x350 ? __napi_schedule+0x79/0x90 __do_softirq+0xc8/0x2b1 __irq_exit_rcu+0xb9/0xf0 common_interrupt+0x82/0xa0 </IRQ> <TASK> asm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40 RIP: 0010:default_idle+0xb/0x20

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CVSS v3.1 Score

4.7
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-362 CWE-362

Affected Products

Vendor Product
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-53186? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: skbuff: Fix a race between coalescing and releasing SKBs Commit 1effe8ca4e34 ("skbuff: fix coalescing for page_pool fragment recycling") allowed coalescing to proceed with non page pool page and page pool page when @from is cloned, i.e. to->pp_recycle --> false from->pp_recycle --> true skb_cloned(from) --> true However, it actually requires skb_cloned(@from) to hold true until coalescing finishes in this situation. If the other cloned SKB is released while the merging is in process, from_shinfo->nr_frags will be set to 0 toward the end of the function, causing the increment of frag page _refcount to be unexpectedly skipped resulting in inconsistent reference counts. Later when SKB(@to) is released, it frees the page directly even though the page pool page is still in use, leading to use-after-free or double-free errors. So it should be prohibited. The double-free error message below prompted us to investigate: BUG: Bad page state in process swapper/1 pfn:0e0d1 page:00000000c6548b28 refcount:-1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x2 pfn:0xe0d1 flags: 0xfffffc0000000(node=0|zone=1|lastcpupid=0x1fffff) raw: 000fffffc0000000 0000000000000000 ffffffff00000101 0000000000000000 raw: 0000000000000002 0000000000000000 ffffffffffffffff 0000000000000000 page dumped because: nonzero _refcount CPU: 1 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/1 Tainted: G E 6.2.0+ Call Trace: <IRQ> dump_stack_lvl+0x32/0x50 bad_page+0x69/0xf0 free_pcp_prepare+0x260/0x2f0 free_unref_page+0x20/0x1c0 skb_release_data+0x10b/0x1a0 napi_consume_skb+0x56/0x150 net_rx_action+0xf0/0x350 ? __napi_schedule+0x79/0x90 __do_softirq+0xc8/0x2b1 __irq_exit_rcu+0xb9/0xf0 common_interrupt+0x82/0xa0 </IRQ> <TASK> asm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40 RIP: 0010:default_idle+0xb/0x20 It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.7 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2023-53186? +
CVE-2023-53186 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 4.7 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2023-53186? +
CVE-2023-53186 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2023-53186? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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