# CVE-2023-53601: bonding: do not assume skb mac_header is set > A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel bonding driver can cause a system crash when processing network packets. - **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:** 4 Oct 2025 - **Updated:** 11 May 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53601, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53601, GHSA-cqg2-m42r-rqrx, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53601 ## What is CVE-2023-53601? CVE-2023-53601 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 Oct 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: bonding: do not assume skb mac_header is set Drivers must not assume in their ndo_start_xmit() that skbs have their mac_header set. skb->data is all what is needed. bonding seems to be one of the last offender as caught by syzbot: WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 skb_mac_offset include/linux/skbuff.h:2913 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_xmit_hash drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:4170 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_xmit_3ad_xor_slave_get drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5149 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_3ad_xor_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5186 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 __bond_start_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5442 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_start_xmit+0x14ab/0x19d0 drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5470 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 Comm: syz-executor.3 Not tainted 6.1.30-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/25/2023 RIP: 0010:skb_mac_header include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 [inline] RIP: 0010:skb_mac_offset include/linux/skbuff.h:2913 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_xmit_hash drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:4170 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_xmit_3ad_xor_slave_get drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5149 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_3ad_xor_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5186 [inline] RIP: 0010:__bond_start_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5442 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_start_xmit+0x14ab/0x19d0 drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5470 Code: 8b 7c 24 30 e8 76 dd 1a 01 48 85 c0 74 0d 48 89 c3 e8 29 67 2e fe e9 15 ef ff ff e8 1f 67 2e fe e9 10 ef ff ff e8 15 67 2e fe <0f> 0b e9 45 f8 ff ff e8 09 67 2e fe e9 dc fa ff ff e8 ff 66 2e fe RSP: 0018:ffffc90002fff6e0 EFLAGS: 00010283 RAX: ffffffff835874db RBX: 000000000000ffff RCX: 0000000000040000 RDX: ffffc90004dcf000 RSI: 00000000000000b5 RDI: 00000000000000b6 RBP: ffffc90002fff8b8 R08: ffffffff83586d16 R09: ffffffff83586584 R10: 0000000000000007 R11: ffff8881599fc780 R12: ffff88811b6a7b7e R13: 1ffff110236d4f6f R14: ffff88811b6a7ac0 R15: 1ffff110236d4f76 FS: 00007f2e9eb47700(0000) GS:ffff8881f6b00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000001b2e421000 CR3: 000000010e6d4000 CR4: 00000000003526e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: [] netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4925 [inline] [] __dev_direct_xmit+0x4ef/0x850 net/core/dev.c:4380 [] dev_direct_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:3043 [inline] [] packet_direct_xmit+0x18b/0x300 net/packet/af_packet.c:284 [] packet_snd net/packet/af_packet.c:3112 [inline] [] packet_sendmsg+0x4a22/0x64d0 net/packet/af_packet.c:3143 [] sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:716 [inline] [] sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:736 [inline] [] __sys_sendto+0x472/0x5f0 net/socket.c:2139 [] __do_sys_sendto net/socket.c:2151 [inline] [] __se_sys_sendto net/socket.c:2147 [inline] [] __x64_sys_sendto+0xe5/0x100 net/socket.c:2147 [] do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] [] do_syscall_64+0x2f/0x50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 [] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53601? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2023-53601? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2023-53601 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53601 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-2023-53601 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2023-53601 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 Oct 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-2023-53601 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-2023-53601/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53601/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53601 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53601 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53601 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53601/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.