# CVE-2023-52523: bpf, sockmap: Reject sk_msg egress redirects to non-TCP sockets

> A local attacker can crash the Linux kernel by redirecting BPF sk_msg egress to a non-TCP socket, causing a null pointer dereference.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Mar 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-52523, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52523, GHSA-fh4f-4w54-vgrf, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52523

## What is CVE-2023-52523?

CVE-2023-52523 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 Mar 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bpf, sockmap: Reject sk_msg egress redirects to non-TCP sockets

With a SOCKMAP/SOCKHASH map and an sk_msg program user can steer messages
sent from one TCP socket (s1) to actually egress from another TCP
socket (s2):

tcp_bpf_sendmsg(s1)		// = sk_prot->sendmsg
  tcp_bpf_send_verdict(s1)	// __SK_REDIRECT case
    tcp_bpf_sendmsg_redir(s2)
      tcp_bpf_push_locked(s2)
	tcp_bpf_push(s2)
	  tcp_rate_check_app_limited(s2) // expects tcp_sock
	  tcp_sendmsg_locked(s2)	 // ditto

There is a hard-coded assumption in the call-chain, that the egress
socket (s2) is a TCP socket.

However in commit 122e6c79efe1 ("sock_map: Update sock type checks for
UDP") we have enabled redirects to non-TCP sockets. This was done for the
sake of BPF sk_skb programs. There was no indention to support sk_msg
send-to-egress use case.

As a result, attempts to send-to-egress through a non-TCP socket lead to a
crash due to invalid downcast from sock to tcp_sock:

 BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 000000000000002f
 ...
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  ? show_regs+0x60/0x70
  ? __die+0x1f/0x70
  ? page_fault_oops+0x80/0x160
  ? do_user_addr_fault+0x2d7/0x800
  ? rcu_is_watching+0x11/0x50
  ? exc_page_fault+0x70/0x1c0
  ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x27/0x30
  ? tcp_tso_segs+0x14/0xa0
  tcp_write_xmit+0x67/0xce0
  __tcp_push_pending_frames+0x32/0xf0
  tcp_push+0x107/0x140
  tcp_sendmsg_locked+0x99f/0xbb0
  tcp_bpf_push+0x19d/0x3a0
  tcp_bpf_sendmsg_redir+0x55/0xd0
  tcp_bpf_send_verdict+0x407/0x550
  tcp_bpf_sendmsg+0x1a1/0x390
  inet_sendmsg+0x6a/0x70
  sock_sendmsg+0x9d/0xc0
  ? sockfd_lookup_light+0x12/0x80
  __sys_sendto+0x10e/0x160
  ? syscall_enter_from_user_mode+0x20/0x60
  ? __this_cpu_preempt_check+0x13/0x20
  ? lockdep_hardirqs_on+0x82/0x110
  __x64_sys_sendto+0x1f/0x30
  do_syscall_64+0x38/0x90
  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

Reject selecting a non-TCP sockets as redirect target from a BPF sk_msg
program to prevent the crash. When attempted, user will receive an EACCES
error from send/sendto/sendmsg() syscall.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52523?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52523?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52523 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52523 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-52523 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52523 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 Mar 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52523 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52523/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52523/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52523
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52523
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52523

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52523/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.