# CVE-2023-53133: bpf, sockmap: Fix an infinite loop error when len is 0 in tcp_bpf_recvmsg_parser()

> A local attacker can cause a system-wide denial of service by triggering an infinite loop in the Linux kernel's BPF sockmap implementation via a zero-length recvmsg call.

- **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:** 1 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53133, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53133, GHSA-2j2m-cc64-3xh4, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53133, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53133

## What is CVE-2023-53133?

CVE-2023-53133 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:

bpf, sockmap: Fix an infinite loop error when len is 0 in tcp_bpf_recvmsg_parser()

When the buffer length of the recvmsg system call is 0, we got the
flollowing soft lockup problem:

watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#3 stuck for 27s! [a.out:6149]
CPU: 3 PID: 6149 Comm: a.out Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.2.0+ #30
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014
RIP: 0010:remove_wait_queue+0xb/0xc0
Code: 5e 41 5f c3 cc cc cc cc 0f 1f 80 00 00 00 00 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 f3 0f 1e fa 0f 1f 44 00 00 41 57 <41> 56 41 55 41 54 55 48 89 fd 53 48 89 f3 4c 8d 6b 18 4c 8d 73 20
RSP: 0018:ffff88811b5978b8 EFLAGS: 00000246
RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff88811a7d3780 RCX: ffffffffb7a4d768
RDX: dffffc0000000000 RSI: ffff88811b597908 RDI: ffff888115408040
RBP: 1ffff110236b2f1b R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffff88811a7d37e7
R10: ffffed10234fa6fc R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff88811179b800
R13: 0000000000000001 R14: ffff88811a7d38a8 R15: ffff88811a7d37e0
FS:  00007f6fb5398740(0000) GS:ffff888237180000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000000020000000 CR3: 000000010b6ba002 CR4: 0000000000370ee0
DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 tcp_msg_wait_data+0x279/0x2f0
 tcp_bpf_recvmsg_parser+0x3c6/0x490
 inet_recvmsg+0x280/0x290
 sock_recvmsg+0xfc/0x120
 ____sys_recvmsg+0x160/0x3d0
 ___sys_recvmsg+0xf0/0x180
 __sys_recvmsg+0xea/0x1a0
 do_syscall_64+0x3f/0x90
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc

The logic in tcp_bpf_recvmsg_parser is as follows:

msg_bytes_ready:
	copied = sk_msg_recvmsg(sk, psock, msg, len, flags);
	if (!copied) {
		wait data;
		goto msg_bytes_ready;
	}

In this case, "copied" always is 0, the infinite loop occurs.

According to the Linux system call man page, 0 should be returned in this
case. Therefore, in tcp_bpf_recvmsg_parser(), if the length is 0, directly
return. Also modify several other functions with the same problem.

Weakness: CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53133?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53133?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53133 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53133 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-2023-53133 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53133 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-2023-53133 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-2023-53133/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53133/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53133
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53133
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53133

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53133/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.