# CVE-2023-53201: RDMA/bnxt_re: wraparound mbox producer index

> A flaw in the Linux kernel RDMA driver causes firmware hangs due to incorrect producer index wraparound, 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:** 15 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53201, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53201, GHSA-p8h3-xc7h-q8r7, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53201

## What is CVE-2023-53201?

CVE-2023-53201 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 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:

RDMA/bnxt_re: wraparound mbox producer index

Driver is not handling the wraparound of the mbox producer index correctly.
Currently the wraparound happens once u32 max is reached.

Bit 31 of the producer index register is special and should be set
only once for the first command. Because the producer index overflow
setting bit31 after a long time, FW goes to initialization sequence
and this causes FW hang.

Fix is to wraparound the mbox producer index once it reaches u16 max.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53201?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53201?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53201 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53201 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-2023-53201 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53201 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 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-2023-53201 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-2023-53201/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53201/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53201
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53201
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53201

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53201/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.