# CVE-2023-53072: mptcp: use the workqueue to destroy unaccepted sockets

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's MPTCP subsystem allows local attackers to potentially execute code or escalate privileges.

- **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 May 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53072, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53072, GHSA-r22j-fw7c-mp4g, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53072, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53072, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53072

## What is CVE-2023-53072?

CVE-2023-53072 is a high-severity use after free 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:

mptcp: use the workqueue to destroy unaccepted sockets

Christoph reported a UaF at token lookup time after having
refactored the passive socket initialization part:

  BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __token_bucket_busy+0x253/0x260
  Read of size 4 at addr ffff88810698d5b0 by task syz-executor653/3198

  CPU: 1 PID: 3198 Comm: syz-executor653 Not tainted 6.2.0-rc59af4eaa31c1f6c00c8f1e448ed99a45c66340dd5 #6
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   dump_stack_lvl+0x6e/0x91
   print_report+0x16a/0x46f
   kasan_report+0xad/0x130
   __token_bucket_busy+0x253/0x260
   mptcp_token_new_connect+0x13d/0x490
   mptcp_connect+0x4ed/0x860
   __inet_stream_connect+0x80e/0xd90
   tcp_sendmsg_fastopen+0x3ce/0x710
   mptcp_sendmsg+0xff1/0x1a20
   inet_sendmsg+0x11d/0x140
   __sys_sendto+0x405/0x490
   __x64_sys_sendto+0xdc/0x1b0
   do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc

We need to properly clean-up all the paired MPTCP-level
resources and be sure to release the msk last, even when
the unaccepted subflow is destroyed by the TCP internals
via inet_child_forget().

We can re-use the existing MPTCP_WORK_CLOSE_SUBFLOW infra,
explicitly checking that for the critical scenario: the
closed subflow is the MPC one, the msk is not accepted and
eventually going through full cleanup.

With such change, __mptcp_destroy_sock() is always called
on msk sockets, even on accepted ones. We don't need anymore
to transiently drop one sk reference at msk clone time.

Please note this commit depends on the parent one:

  mptcp: refactor passive socket initialization

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53072?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53072?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53072 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53072 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-2023-53072 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53072 is a high-severity use after free 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-2023-53072 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-2023-53072/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53072/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53072
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53072
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53072

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53072/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.