# CVE-2023-52941: can: isotp: split tx timer into transmission and timeout

> A flaw in the Linux kernel CAN ISO-TP implementation could cause a system panic if panic_on_warn is enabled, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 27 Mar 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-52941, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52941, GHSA-mh69-q9mq-74wg, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52941

## What is CVE-2023-52941?

CVE-2023-52941 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Mar 2025. 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:

can: isotp: split tx timer into transmission and timeout

The timer for the transmission of isotp PDUs formerly had two functions:
1. send two consecutive frames with a given time gap
2. monitor the timeouts for flow control frames and the echo frames

This led to larger txstate checks and potentially to a problem discovered
by syzbot which enabled the panic_on_warn feature while testing.

The former 'txtimer' function is split into 'txfrtimer' and 'txtimer'
to handle the two above functionalities with separate timer callbacks.

The two simplified timers now run in one-shot mode and make the state
transitions (especially with isotp_rcv_echo) better understandable.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52941?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52941?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52941 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52941 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-2023-52941 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52941 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Mar 2025. 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-2023-52941 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-2023-52941/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52941/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52941
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52941
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52941

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52941/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.