Vulnerability · Published Dec 9, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2023-53809l2tp: Avoid possible recursive deadlock in l2tp_tunnel_register()

Unrated

In plain English

A security flaw 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 0.2% (higher than 8% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS )–Not rated
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 91.8% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsnot in CISA KEV
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: l2tp: Avoid possible recursive deadlock in l2tp_tunnel_register() When a file descriptor of pppol2tp socket is passed as file descriptor of UDP socket, a recursive deadlock occurs in l2tp_tunnel_register(). This situation is reproduced by the following program: int main(void) { int sock; struct sockaddr_pppol2tp addr; sock = socket(AF_PPPOX, SOCK_DGRAM, PX_PROTO_OL2TP); if (sock < 0) { perror("socket"); return 1; } addr.sa_family = AF_PPPOX; addr.sa_protocol = PX_PROTO_OL2TP; addr.pppol2tp.pid = 0; addr.pppol2tp.fd = sock; addr.pppol2tp.addr.sin_family = PF_INET; addr.pppol2tp.addr.sin_port = htons(0); addr.pppol2tp.addr.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr("192.168.0.1"); addr.pppol2tp.s_tunnel = 1; addr.pppol2tp.s_session = 0; addr.pppol2tp.d_tunnel = 0; addr.pppol2tp.d_session = 0; if (connect(sock, (const struct sockaddr *)&addr, sizeof(addr)) < 0) { perror("connect"); return 1; } return 0; } This program causes the following lockdep warning: ============================================ WARNING: possible recursive locking detected 6.2.0-rc5-00205-gc96618275234 #56 Not tainted -------------------------------------------- repro/8607 is trying to acquire lock: ffff8880213c8130 (sk_lock-AF_PPPOX){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: l2tp_tunnel_register+0x2b7/0x11c0 but task is already holding lock: ffff8880213c8130 (sk_lock-AF_PPPOX){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: pppol2tp_connect+0xa82/0x1a30 other info that might help us debug this: Possible unsafe locking scenario: CPU0 ---- lock(sk_lock-AF_PPPOX); lock(sk_lock-AF_PPPOX); *** DEADLOCK *** May be due to missing lock nesting notation 1 lock held by repro/8607: #0: ffff8880213c8130 (sk_lock-AF_PPPOX){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: pppol2tp_connect+0xa82/0x1a30 stack backtrace: CPU: 0 PID: 8607 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.2.0-rc5-00205-gc96618275234 #56 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.1-2.fc37 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x100/0x178 __lock_acquire.cold+0x119/0x3b9 ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare+0x410/0x410 lock_acquire+0x1e0/0x610 ? l2tp_tunnel_register+0x2b7/0x11c0 ? lock_downgrade+0x710/0x710 ? __fget_files+0x283/0x3e0 lock_sock_nested+0x3a/0xf0 ? l2tp_tunnel_register+0x2b7/0x11c0 l2tp_tunnel_register+0x2b7/0x11c0 ? sprintf+0xc4/0x100 ? l2tp_tunnel_del_work+0x6b0/0x6b0 ? debug_object_deactivate+0x320/0x320 ? lockdep_init_map_type+0x16d/0x7a0 ? lockdep_init_map_type+0x16d/0x7a0 ? l2tp_tunnel_create+0x2bf/0x4b0 ? l2tp_tunnel_create+0x3c6/0x4b0 pppol2tp_connect+0x14e1/0x1a30 ? pppol2tp_put_sk+0xd0/0xd0 ? aa_sk_perm+0x2b7/0xa80 ? aa_af_perm+0x260/0x260 ? bpf_lsm_socket_connect+0x9/0x10 ? pppol2tp_put_sk+0xd0/0xd0 __sys_connect_file+0x14f/0x190 __sys_connect+0x133/0x160 ? __sys_connect_file+0x190/0x190 ? lockdep_hardirqs_on+0x7d/0x100 ? ktime_get_coarse_real_ts64+0x1b7/0x200 ? ktime_get_coarse_real_ts64+0x147/0x200 ? __audit_syscall_entry+0x396/0x500 __x64_sys_connect+0x72/0xb0 do_syscall_64+0x38/0xb0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd This patch fixes the issue by getting/creating the tunnel before locking the pppol2tp socket.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12linux6.1.20-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53809
Debian:13linux6.1.20-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53809
Debian:14linux6.1.20-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux5.15.0-75.82UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws5.15.0-1038.43UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure5.15.0-1040.47UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde5.15.0-1041.48.1UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp5.15.0-1036.44UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gke5.15.0-1036.41UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gkeop5.15.0-1022.27UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-ibm5.15.0-1032.35UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iotg5.15.0-1033.38UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-kvm5.15.0-1035.40UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency5.15.0-75.82UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia5.15.0-1027.27UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-tegra5.15.0-1015.15UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.8no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle5.15.0-1037.43UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-raspi5.15.0-1032.35UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.14no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-53809

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux 2d77e5c0ad79004b5ef901895437e9cce6dfcc7e – before 4a413d360959962995e16a899cf2b9ef53e9fcb977e8ed776cdb1a24b2aab8fe7c6f1f154235e1ce – before f6df58aa15f7d469f69b1dd21b001ff483255244cef0845b6dcfa2f6c2c832e7f9622551456c741d – before 4bb736b40475528ac1aa8c98b368563618488a700b2c59720e65885a394a017d0cf9cab118914682 – before 5370647dd745bb3d8f37057006be207ddd8e93140b2c59720e65885a394a017d0cf9cab118914682 – before 9ca5e7ecab064f1f47da07f7c1ddf40e4bc0e5ac5.10.166 – before 5.10.1735.15.91 – before 5.15.996.1.9 – before 6.1.16
Linux Linux 6.2

References