# CVE-2023-53660: bpf, cpumap: Handle skb as well when clean up ptr_ring

> A kernel bug in BPF cpumap cleanup mishandles SKBs, potentially causing a warning or crash when specific XDP modes are enabled.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 7 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53660, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53660, GHSA-v6pf-gqpp-85ff, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53660

## What is CVE-2023-53660?

CVE-2023-53660 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 7 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:

bpf, cpumap: Handle skb as well when clean up ptr_ring

The following warning was reported when running xdp_redirect_cpu with
both skb-mode and stress-mode enabled:

  ------------[ cut here ]------------
  Incorrect XDP memory type (-2128176192) usage
  WARNING: CPU: 7 PID: 1442 at net/core/xdp.c:405
  Modules linked in:
  CPU: 7 PID: 1442 Comm: kworker/7:0 Tainted: G  6.5.0-rc2+ #1
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)
  Workqueue: events __cpu_map_entry_free
  RIP: 0010:__xdp_return+0x1e4/0x4a0
  ......
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   ? show_regs+0x65/0x70
   ? __warn+0xa5/0x240
   ? __xdp_return+0x1e4/0x4a0
   ......
   xdp_return_frame+0x4d/0x150
   __cpu_map_entry_free+0xf9/0x230
   process_one_work+0x6b0/0xb80
   worker_thread+0x96/0x720
   kthread+0x1a5/0x1f0
   ret_from_fork+0x3a/0x70
   ret_from_fork_asm+0x1b/0x30
   </TASK>

The reason for the warning is twofold. One is due to the kthread
cpu_map_kthread_run() is stopped prematurely. Another one is
__cpu_map_ring_cleanup() doesn't handle skb mode and treats skbs in
ptr_ring as XDP frames.

Prematurely-stopped kthread will be fixed by the preceding patch and
ptr_ring will be empty when __cpu_map_ring_cleanup() is called. But
as the comments in __cpu_map_ring_cleanup() said, handling and freeing
skbs in ptr_ring as well to "catch any broken behaviour gracefully".

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53660?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53660?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53660 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53660 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-2023-53660 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53660 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 7 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-2023-53660 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-2023-53660/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53660/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53660
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53660
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53660

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53660/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.