# CVE-2023-53060: igb: revert rtnl_lock() that causes deadlock

> A race condition in the igb network driver causes a deadlock during device removal, leading to a 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:** 2 May 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53060, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53060, GHSA-6f24-wm2q-5fj6, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53060

## What is CVE-2023-53060?

CVE-2023-53060 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 May 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:

igb: revert rtnl_lock() that causes deadlock

The commit 6faee3d4ee8b ("igb: Add lock to avoid data race") adds
rtnl_lock to eliminate a false data race shown below

 (FREE from device detaching)      |   (USE from netdev core)
igb_remove                         |  igb_ndo_get_vf_config
 igb_disable_sriov                 |  vf >= adapter->vfs_allocated_count?
  kfree(adapter->vf_data)          |
  adapter->vfs_allocated_count = 0 |
                                   |    memcpy(... adapter->vf_data[vf]

The above race will never happen and the extra rtnl_lock causes deadlock
below

[  141.420169]  <TASK>
[  141.420672]  __schedule+0x2dd/0x840
[  141.421427]  schedule+0x50/0xc0
[  141.422041]  schedule_preempt_disabled+0x11/0x20
[  141.422678]  __mutex_lock.isra.13+0x431/0x6b0
[  141.423324]  unregister_netdev+0xe/0x20
[  141.423578]  igbvf_remove+0x45/0xe0 [igbvf]
[  141.423791]  pci_device_remove+0x36/0xb0
[  141.423990]  device_release_driver_internal+0xc1/0x160
[  141.424270]  pci_stop_bus_device+0x6d/0x90
[  141.424507]  pci_stop_and_remove_bus_device+0xe/0x20
[  141.424789]  pci_iov_remove_virtfn+0xba/0x120
[  141.425452]  sriov_disable+0x2f/0xf0
[  141.425679]  igb_disable_sriov+0x4e/0x100 [igb]
[  141.426353]  igb_remove+0xa0/0x130 [igb]
[  141.426599]  pci_device_remove+0x36/0xb0
[  141.426796]  device_release_driver_internal+0xc1/0x160
[  141.427060]  driver_detach+0x44/0x90
[  141.427253]  bus_remove_driver+0x55/0xe0
[  141.427477]  pci_unregister_driver+0x2a/0xa0
[  141.428296]  __x64_sys_delete_module+0x141/0x2b0
[  141.429126]  ? mntput_no_expire+0x4a/0x240
[  141.429363]  ? syscall_trace_enter.isra.19+0x126/0x1a0
[  141.429653]  do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x80
[  141.429847]  ? exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x14d/0x1c0
[  141.430109]  ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x12/0x30
[  141.430849]  ? do_syscall_64+0x67/0x80
[  141.431083]  ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x183/0x1b0
[  141.431770]  ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x12/0x30
[  141.432482]  ? do_syscall_64+0x67/0x80
[  141.432714]  ? exc_page_fault+0x64/0x140
[  141.432911]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc

Since the igb_disable_sriov() will call pci_disable_sriov() before
releasing any resources, the netdev core will synchronize the cleanup to
avoid any races. This patch removes the useless rtnl_(un)lock to guarantee
correctness.

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53060?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53060?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53060 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53060 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-2023-53060 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53060 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 May 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-2023-53060 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-2023-53060/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53060/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53060
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53060
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53060

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53060/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
