Vulnerability · Published Sep 17, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2023-53338lwt: Fix return values of BPF xmit ops

Critical 9.8

In plain English

A critical-severity use-after-free in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.6% (higher than 46% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)9.8Critical
Exploit odds (30 days)0.6%top 53.7% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: lwt: Fix return values of BPF xmit ops BPF encap ops can return different types of positive values, such like NET_RX_DROP, NET_XMIT_CN, NETDEV_TX_BUSY, and so on, from function skb_do_redirect and bpf_lwt_xmit_reroute. At the xmit hook, such return values would be treated implicitly as LWTUNNEL_XMIT_CONTINUE in ip(6)_finish_output2. When this happens, skbs that have been freed would continue to the neighbor subsystem, causing use-after-free bug and kernel crashes. To fix the incorrect behavior, skb_do_redirect return values can be simply discarded, the same as tc-egress behavior. On the other hand, bpf_lwt_xmit_reroute returns useful errors to local senders, e.g. PMTU information. Thus convert its return values to avoid the conflict with LWTUNNEL_XMIT_CONTINUE.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12linux6.1.55-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53338
Debian:13linux6.5.3-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53338
Debian:14linux6.5.3-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux5.15.0-94.104UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws5.15.0-1053.58UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure5.15.0-1056.64UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde5.15.0-1056.64.1UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp5.15.0-1051.59UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gke5.15.0-1050.55UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gkeop5.15.0-1036.42UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-ibm5.15.0-1046.49UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-intelno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iotg5.15.0-1047.53UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-kvm5.15.0-1050.55UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency5.15.0-94.104UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia5.15.0-1044.44UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-tegra5.15.0-1022.22UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-tegra-igx5.15.0-1009.9UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.8no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle5.15.0-1051.57UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-raspi5.15.0-1046.49UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-xilinx-zynqmp5.15.0-1027.31UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53338

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux 3a0af8fd61f90920f6fa04e4f1e9a6a73c1b4fd2 – before 67f8f2bae8e7ac72e09def2b667e44704c4d1ee13a0af8fd61f90920f6fa04e4f1e9a6a73c1b4fd2 – before a97f221651fcdc891166e9bc270e3d9bfa5a00803a0af8fd61f90920f6fa04e4f1e9a6a73c1b4fd2 – before e3f647e4b642f9f6d32795a16f92c116c138d2af3a0af8fd61f90920f6fa04e4f1e9a6a73c1b4fd2 – before 065d5f17096ec9161180e2c890afdff4dc6125f23a0af8fd61f90920f6fa04e4f1e9a6a73c1b4fd2 – before d68c17402442f5f494a2c3ebde5cb82f6aa9160a3a0af8fd61f90920f6fa04e4f1e9a6a73c1b4fd2 – before 65583f9e070db7bece20710cfa2e3daeb0b831d93a0af8fd61f90920f6fa04e4f1e9a6a73c1b4fd2 – before 29b22badb7a84b783e3a4fffca16f7768fb31205
Linux Linux 4.10

Weakness: CWE-416 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References