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    CVE-2023-53585

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: reject unhashed sockets in bpf_sk_assign The semantics for bpf_sk_assign are as follows: sk = some_lookup_func() bpf_sk_assign(skb, sk) bpf_sk_release(sk) That is, the sk is not consumed by bpf_sk_assign. The function therefore needs to make sure that sk lives long enough to be consumed from __inet_lookup_skb. The path through the stack for a TCPv4 packet is roughly: netif_receive_skb_core: takes RCU read lock __netif_receive_skb_core: sch_handle_ingress: tcf_classify: bpf_sk_assign() deliver_ptype_list_skb: deliver_skb: ip_packet_type->func == ip_rcv: ip_rcv_core: ip_rcv_finish_core: dst_input: ip_local_deliver: ip_local_deliver_finish: ip_protocol_deliver_rcu: tcp_v4_rcv: __inet_lookup_skb: skb_steal_sock The existing helper takes advantage of the fact that everything happens in the same RCU critical section: for sockets with SOCK_RCU_FREE set bpf_sk_assign never takes a reference. skb_steal_sock then checks SOCK_RCU_FREE again and does sock_put if necessary. This approach assumes that SOCK_RCU_FREE is never set on a sk between bpf_sk_assign and skb_steal_sock, but this invariant is violated by unhashed UDP sockets. A new UDP socket is created in TCP_CLOSE state but without SOCK_RCU_FREE set. That flag is only added in udp_lib_get_port() which happens when a socket is bound. When bpf_sk_assign was added it wasn't possible to access unhashed UDP sockets from BPF, so this wasn't a problem. This changed in commit 0c48eefae712 ("sock_map: Lift socket state restriction for datagram sockets"), but the helper wasn't adjusted accordingly. The following sequence of events will therefore lead to a refcount leak: 1. Add socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM) to a sockmap. 2. Pull socket out of sockmap and bpf_sk_assign it. Since SOCK_RCU_FREE is not set we increment the refcount. 3. bind() or connect() the socket, setting SOCK_RCU_FREE. 4. skb_steal_sock will now set refcounted = false due to SOCK_RCU_FREE. 5. tcp_v4_rcv() skips sock_put(). Fix the problem by rejecting unhashed sockets in bpf_sk_assign(). This matches the behaviour of __inet_lookup_skb which is ultimately the goal of bpf_sk_assign().

    Published:Oct 4, 2025
    Last Modified:Mar 23, 2026
    EPS:Oct 4, 2025
    EPSS Score:0.00015
    CVSS Score:5.5

    Affected Products

    Vendor
    Linux
    Product
    Linux Kernel

    Exploits

    No exploit reference

    Common Weakness Enumeration

    No CWE recorded yet

    Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

    No CAPEC recorded yet

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    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High