CVE-2023-53556

HIGH
Published Oct 4, 2025 Modified Mar 21, 2026 CWE-416

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iavf: Fix use-after-free in free_netdev We do netif_napi_add() for all allocated q_vectors[], but potentially do netif_napi_del() for part of them, then kfree q_vectors and leave invalid pointers at dev->napi_list. Reproducer: [root@host ~]# cat repro.sh #!/bin/bash pf_dbsf="0000:41:00.0" vf0_dbsf="0000:41:02.0" g_pids=() function do_set_numvf() { echo 2 >/sys/bus/pci/devices/${pf_dbsf}/sriov_numvfs sleep $((RANDOM%3+1)) echo 0 >/sys/bus/pci/devices/${pf_dbsf}/sriov_numvfs sleep $((RANDOM%3+1)) } function do_set_channel() { local nic=$(ls -1 --indicator-style=none /sys/bus/pci/devices/${vf0_dbsf}/net/) [ -z "$nic" ] && { sleep $((RANDOM%3)) ; return 1; } ifconfig $nic 192.168.18.5 netmask 255.255.255.0 ifconfig $nic up ethtool -L $nic combined 1 ethtool -L $nic combined 4 sleep $((RANDOM%3)) } function on_exit() { local pid for pid in "${g_pids[@]}"; do kill -0 "$pid" &>/dev/null && kill "$pid" &>/dev/null done g_pids=() } trap "on_exit; exit" EXIT while :; do do_set_numvf ; done & g_pids+=($!) while :; do do_set_channel ; done & g_pids+=($!) wait Result: [ 4093.900222] ================================================================== [ 4093.900230] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in free_netdev+0x308/0x390 [ 4093.900232] Read of size 8 at addr ffff88b4dc145640 by task repro.sh/6699 [ 4093.900233] [ 4093.900236] CPU: 10 PID: 6699 Comm: repro.sh Kdump: loaded Tainted: G O --------- -t - 4.18.0 #1 [ 4093.900238] Hardware name: Powerleader PR2008AL/H12DSi-N6, BIOS 2.0 04/09/2021 [ 4093.900239] Call Trace: [ 4093.900244] dump_stack+0x71/0xab [ 4093.900249] print_address_description+0x6b/0x290 [ 4093.900251] ? free_netdev+0x308/0x390 [ 4093.900252] kasan_report+0x14a/0x2b0 [ 4093.900254] free_netdev+0x308/0x390 [ 4093.900261] iavf_remove+0x825/0xd20 [iavf] [ 4093.900265] pci_device_remove+0xa8/0x1f0 [ 4093.900268] device_release_driver_internal+0x1c6/0x460 [ 4093.900271] pci_stop_bus_device+0x101/0x150 [ 4093.900273] pci_stop_and_remove_bus_device+0xe/0x20 [ 4093.900275] pci_iov_remove_virtfn+0x187/0x420 [ 4093.900277] ? pci_iov_add_virtfn+0xe10/0xe10 [ 4093.900278] ? pci_get_subsys+0x90/0x90 [ 4093.900280] sriov_disable+0xed/0x3e0 [ 4093.900282] ? bus_find_device+0x12d/0x1a0 [ 4093.900290] i40e_free_vfs+0x754/0x1210 [i40e] [ 4093.900298] ? i40e_reset_all_vfs+0x880/0x880 [i40e] [ 4093.900299] ? pci_get_device+0x7c/0x90 [ 4093.900300] ? pci_get_subsys+0x90/0x90 [ 4093.900306] ? pci_vfs_assigned.part.7+0x144/0x210 [ 4093.900309] ? __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x10/0x10 [ 4093.900315] i40e_pci_sriov_configure+0x1fa/0x2e0 [i40e] [ 4093.900318] sriov_numvfs_store+0x214/0x290 [ 4093.900320] ? sriov_totalvfs_show+0x30/0x30 [ 4093.900321] ? __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x10/0x10 [ 4093.900323] ? __check_object_size+0x15a/0x350 [ 4093.900326] kernfs_fop_write+0x280/0x3f0 [ 4093.900329] vfs_write+0x145/0x440 [ 4093.900330] ksys_write+0xab/0x160 [ 4093.900332] ? __ia32_sys_read+0xb0/0xb0 [ 4093.900334] ? fput_many+0x1a/0x120 [ 4093.900335] ? filp_close+0xf0/0x130 [ 4093.900338] do_syscall_64+0xa0/0x370 [ 4093.900339] ? page_fault+0x8/0x30 [ 4093.900341] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x65/0xca [ 4093.900357] RIP: 0033:0x7f16ad4d22c0 [ 4093.900359] Code: 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d d8 cb 2c 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 83 c8 ff c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 83 3d 89 24 2d 00 00 75 10 b8 01 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 31 c3 48 83 ec 08 e8 fe dd 01 00 48 89 04 24 [ 4093.900360] RSP: 002b:00007ffd6491b7f8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000001 [ 4093.900362] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000002 RCX: 00007f16ad4d22c0 [ 4093.900363] RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: 0000000001a41408 RDI: 0000000000000001 [ 4093.900364] RBP: 0000000001a41408 R08: 00007f16ad7a1780 R09: 00007f16ae1f2700 [ 4093.9003 ---truncated---

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CVSS v3.1 Score

7.8
HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-416 Use After Free

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

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-53556? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iavf: Fix use-after-free in free_netdev We do netif_napi_add() for all allocated q_vectors[], but potentially do netif_napi_del() for part of them, then kfree q_vectors and leave invalid pointers at dev->napi_list. Reproducer: [root@host ~]# cat repro.sh #!/bin/bash pf_dbsf="0000:41:00.0" vf0_dbsf="0000:41:02.0" g_pids=() function do_set_numvf() { echo 2 >/sys/bus/pci/devices/${pf_dbsf}/sriov_numvfs sleep $((RANDOM%3+1)) echo 0 >/sys/bus/pci/devices/${pf_dbsf}/sriov_numvfs sleep $((RANDOM%3+1)) } function do_set_channel() { local nic=$(ls -1 --indicator-style=none /sys/bus/pci/devices/${vf0_dbsf}/net/) [ -z "$nic" ] && { sleep $((RANDOM%3)) ; return 1; } ifconfig $nic 192.168.18.5 netmask 255.255.255.0 ifconfig $nic up ethtool -L $nic combined 1 ethtool -L $nic combined 4 sleep $((RANDOM%3)) } function on_exit() { local pid for pid in "${g_pids[@]}"; do kill -0 "$pid" &>/dev/null && kill "$pid" &>/dev/null done g_pids=() } trap "on_exit; exit" EXIT while :; do do_set_numvf ; done & g_pids+=($!) while :; do do_set_channel ; done & g_pids+=($!) wait Result: [ 4093.900222] ================================================================== [ 4093.900230] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in free_netdev+0x308/0x390 [ 4093.900232] Read of size 8 at addr ffff88b4dc145640 by task repro.sh/6699 [ 4093.900233] [ 4093.900236] CPU: 10 PID: 6699 Comm: repro.sh Kdump: loaded Tainted: G O --------- -t - 4.18.0 #1 [ 4093.900238] Hardware name: Powerleader PR2008AL/H12DSi-N6, BIOS 2.0 04/09/2021 [ 4093.900239] Call Trace: [ 4093.900244] dump_stack+0x71/0xab [ 4093.900249] print_address_description+0x6b/0x290 [ 4093.900251] ? free_netdev+0x308/0x390 [ 4093.900252] kasan_report+0x14a/0x2b0 [ 4093.900254] free_netdev+0x308/0x390 [ 4093.900261] iavf_remove+0x825/0xd20 [iavf] [ 4093.900265] pci_device_remove+0xa8/0x1f0 [ 4093.900268] device_release_driver_internal+0x1c6/0x460 [ 4093.900271] pci_stop_bus_device+0x101/0x150 [ 4093.900273] pci_stop_and_remove_bus_device+0xe/0x20 [ 4093.900275] pci_iov_remove_virtfn+0x187/0x420 [ 4093.900277] ? pci_iov_add_virtfn+0xe10/0xe10 [ 4093.900278] ? pci_get_subsys+0x90/0x90 [ 4093.900280] sriov_disable+0xed/0x3e0 [ 4093.900282] ? bus_find_device+0x12d/0x1a0 [ 4093.900290] i40e_free_vfs+0x754/0x1210 [i40e] [ 4093.900298] ? i40e_reset_all_vfs+0x880/0x880 [i40e] [ 4093.900299] ? pci_get_device+0x7c/0x90 [ 4093.900300] ? pci_get_subsys+0x90/0x90 [ 4093.900306] ? pci_vfs_assigned.part.7+0x144/0x210 [ 4093.900309] ? __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x10/0x10 [ 4093.900315] i40e_pci_sriov_configure+0x1fa/0x2e0 [i40e] [ 4093.900318] sriov_numvfs_store+0x214/0x290 [ 4093.900320] ? sriov_totalvfs_show+0x30/0x30 [ 4093.900321] ? __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x10/0x10 [ 4093.900323] ? __check_object_size+0x15a/0x350 [ 4093.900326] kernfs_fop_write+0x280/0x3f0 [ 4093.900329] vfs_write+0x145/0x440 [ 4093.900330] ksys_write+0xab/0x160 [ 4093.900332] ? __ia32_sys_read+0xb0/0xb0 [ 4093.900334] ? fput_many+0x1a/0x120 [ 4093.900335] ? filp_close+0xf0/0x130 [ 4093.900338] do_syscall_64+0xa0/0x370 [ 4093.900339] ? page_fault+0x8/0x30 [ 4093.900341] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x65/0xca [ 4093.900357] RIP: 0033:0x7f16ad4d22c0 [ 4093.900359] Code: 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d d8 cb 2c 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 83 c8 ff c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 83 3d 89 24 2d 00 00 75 10 b8 01 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 31 c3 48 83 ec 08 e8 fe dd 01 00 48 89 04 24 [ 4093.900360] RSP: 002b:00007ffd6491b7f8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000001 [ 4093.900362] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000002 RCX: 00007f16ad4d22c0 [ 4093.900363] RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: 0000000001a41408 RDI: 0000000000000001 [ 4093.900364] RBP: 0000000001a41408 R08: 00007f16ad7a1780 R09: 00007f16ae1f2700 [ 4093.9003 ---truncated--- It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2023-53556? +
CVE-2023-53556 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching.
What products are affected by CVE-2023-53556? +
CVE-2023-53556 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-2023-53556? +
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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