# CVE-2023-53296: sctp: check send stream number after wait_for_sndbuf

> A race condition in the Linux kernel SCTP implementation allows a local attacker to cause a null pointer dereference and system crash.

- **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:** 16 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53296, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53296, GHSA-vwf3-3r65-6v22, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53296

## What is CVE-2023-53296?

CVE-2023-53296 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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:

sctp: check send stream number after wait_for_sndbuf

This patch fixes a corner case where the asoc out stream count may change
after wait_for_sndbuf.

When the main thread in the client starts a connection, if its out stream
count is set to N while the in stream count in the server is set to N - 2,
another thread in the client keeps sending the msgs with stream number
N - 1, and waits for sndbuf before processing INIT_ACK.

However, after processing INIT_ACK, the out stream count in the client is
shrunk to N - 2, the same to the in stream count in the server. The crash
occurs when the thread waiting for sndbuf is awake and sends the msg in a
non-existing stream(N - 1), the call trace is as below:

  KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000038-0x000000000000003f]
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   sctp_cmd_send_msg net/sctp/sm_sideeffect.c:1114 [inline]
   sctp_cmd_interpreter net/sctp/sm_sideeffect.c:1777 [inline]
   sctp_side_effects net/sctp/sm_sideeffect.c:1199 [inline]
   sctp_do_sm+0x197d/0x5310 net/sctp/sm_sideeffect.c:1170
   sctp_primitive_SEND+0x9f/0xc0 net/sctp/primitive.c:163
   sctp_sendmsg_to_asoc+0x10eb/0x1a30 net/sctp/socket.c:1868
   sctp_sendmsg+0x8d4/0x1d90 net/sctp/socket.c:2026
   inet_sendmsg+0x9d/0xe0 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:825
   sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:722 [inline]
   sock_sendmsg+0xde/0x190 net/socket.c:745

The fix is to add an unlikely check for the send stream number after the
thread wakes up from the wait_for_sndbuf.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53296?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53296?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53296 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53296 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-2023-53296 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53296 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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-2023-53296 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-2023-53296/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53296/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53296
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53296
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53296

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53296/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.