# CVE-2023-53121: tcp: tcp_make_synack() can be called from process context

> A kernel bug in TCP SYN-ACK generation causes a crash when called from process context, 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:** 2 May 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53121, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53121, GHSA-cwj5-qqpc-pw3v, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53121

## What is CVE-2023-53121?

CVE-2023-53121 is a medium-severity denial of service 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:

tcp: tcp_make_synack() can be called from process context

tcp_rtx_synack() now could be called in process context as explained in
0a375c822497 ("tcp: tcp_rtx_synack() can be called from process
context").

tcp_rtx_synack() might call tcp_make_synack(), which will touch per-CPU
variables with preemption enabled. This causes the following BUG:

    BUG: using __this_cpu_add() in preemptible [00000000] code: ThriftIO1/5464
    caller is tcp_make_synack+0x841/0xac0
    Call Trace:
     <TASK>
     dump_stack_lvl+0x10d/0x1a0
     check_preemption_disabled+0x104/0x110
     tcp_make_synack+0x841/0xac0
     tcp_v6_send_synack+0x5c/0x450
     tcp_rtx_synack+0xeb/0x1f0
     inet_rtx_syn_ack+0x34/0x60
     tcp_check_req+0x3af/0x9e0
     tcp_rcv_state_process+0x59b/0x2030
     tcp_v6_do_rcv+0x5f5/0x700
     release_sock+0x3a/0xf0
     tcp_sendmsg+0x33/0x40
     ____sys_sendmsg+0x2f2/0x490
     __sys_sendmsg+0x184/0x230
     do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90

Avoid calling __TCP_INC_STATS() with will touch per-cpu variables. Use
TCP_INC_STATS() which is safe to be called from context switch.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53121?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53121?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53121 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53121 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-2023-53121 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53121 is a medium-severity denial of service 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-2023-53121 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-2023-53121/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53121/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53121
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53121
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53121

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53121/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.