# CVE-2023-53667: net: cdc_ncm: Deal with too low values of dwNtbOutMaxSize

> A flaw in the Linux kernel CDC NCM driver causes a kernel panic when handling small dwNtbOutMaxSize values, 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:** 7 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53667, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53667, GHSA-j9p8-cc5q-cg54, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53667

## What is CVE-2023-53667?

CVE-2023-53667 is a medium-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:

net: cdc_ncm: Deal with too low values of dwNtbOutMaxSize

Currently in cdc_ncm_check_tx_max(), if dwNtbOutMaxSize is lower than
the calculated "min" value, but greater than zero, the logic sets
tx_max to dwNtbOutMaxSize. This is then used to allocate a new SKB in
cdc_ncm_fill_tx_frame() where all the data is handled.

For small values of dwNtbOutMaxSize the memory allocated during
alloc_skb(dwNtbOutMaxSize, GFP_ATOMIC) will have the same size, due to
how size is aligned at alloc time:
	size = SKB_DATA_ALIGN(size);
        size += SKB_DATA_ALIGN(sizeof(struct skb_shared_info));
Thus we hit the same bug that we tried to squash with
commit 2be6d4d16a084 ("net: cdc_ncm: Allow for dwNtbOutMaxSize to be unset or zero")

Low values of dwNtbOutMaxSize do not cause an issue presently because at
alloc_skb() time more memory (512b) is allocated than required for the
SKB headers alone (320b), leaving some space (512b - 320b = 192b)
for CDC data (172b).

However, if more elements (for example 3 x u64 = [24b]) were added to
one of the SKB header structs, say 'struct skb_shared_info',
increasing its original size (320b [320b aligned]) to something larger
(344b [384b aligned]), then suddenly the CDC data (172b) no longer
fits in the spare SKB data area (512b - 384b = 128b).

Consequently the SKB bounds checking semantics fails and panics:

skbuff: skb_over_panic: text:ffffffff831f755b len:184 put:172 head:ffff88811f1c6c00 data:ffff88811f1c6c00 tail:0xb8 end:0x80 dev:<NULL>
------------[ cut here ]------------
kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:113!
invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN
CPU: 0 PID: 57 Comm: kworker/0:2 Not tainted 5.15.106-syzkaller-00249-g19c0ed55a470 #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 04/14/2023
Workqueue: mld mld_ifc_work
RIP: 0010:skb_panic net/core/skbuff.c:113 [inline]
RIP: 0010:skb_over_panic+0x14c/0x150 net/core/skbuff.c:118
[snip]
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 skb_put+0x151/0x210 net/core/skbuff.c:2047
 skb_put_zero include/linux/skbuff.h:2422 [inline]
 cdc_ncm_ndp16 drivers/net/usb/cdc_ncm.c:1131 [inline]
 cdc_ncm_fill_tx_frame+0x11ab/0x3da0 drivers/net/usb/cdc_ncm.c:1308
 cdc_ncm_tx_fixup+0xa3/0x100

Deal with too low values of dwNtbOutMaxSize, clamp it in the range
[USB_CDC_NCM_NTB_MIN_OUT_SIZE, CDC_NCM_NTB_MAX_SIZE_TX]. We ensure
enough data space is allocated to handle CDC data by making sure
dwNtbOutMaxSize is not smaller than USB_CDC_NCM_NTB_MIN_OUT_SIZE.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53667?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53667?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53667 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53667 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-2023-53667 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53667 is a medium-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-2023-53667 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-2023-53667/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53667/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53667
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53667
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53667

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53667/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.