# CVE-2023-53686: net/handshake: fix null-ptr-deref in handshake_nl_done_doit()

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's handshake netlink handler allows local attackers to cause a 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:** 7 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53686, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53686, GHSA-8c2j-63gq-x4jc, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53686

## What is CVE-2023-53686?

CVE-2023-53686 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/handshake: fix null-ptr-deref in handshake_nl_done_doit()

We should not call trace_handshake_cmd_done_err() if socket lookup has failed.

Also we should call trace_handshake_cmd_done_err() before releasing the file,
otherwise dereferencing sock->sk can return garbage.

This also reverts 7afc6d0a107f ("net/handshake: Fix uninitialized local variable")

Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address dfff800000000003
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000018-0x000000000000001f]
Mem abort info:
ESR = 0x0000000096000005
EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits
SET = 0, FnV = 0
EA = 0, S1PTW = 0
FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault
Data abort info:
ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000005, ISS2 = 0x00000000
CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0
GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0
[dfff800000000003] address between user and kernel address ranges
Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000005 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
Modules linked in:
CPU: 1 PID: 5986 Comm: syz-executor292 Not tainted 6.5.0-rc7-syzkaller-gfe4469582053 #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 07/26/2023
pstate: 80400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
pc : handshake_nl_done_doit+0x198/0x9c8 net/handshake/netlink.c:193
lr : handshake_nl_done_doit+0x180/0x9c8
sp : ffff800096e37180
x29: ffff800096e37200 x28: 1ffff00012dc6e34 x27: dfff800000000000
x26: ffff800096e373d0 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: 00000000ffffffa8
x23: ffff800096e373f0 x22: 1ffff00012dc6e38 x21: 0000000000000000
x20: ffff800096e371c0 x19: 0000000000000018 x18: 0000000000000000
x17: 0000000000000000 x16: ffff800080516cc4 x15: 0000000000000001
x14: 1fffe0001b14aa3b x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000000
x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : 0000000000000003
x8 : 0000000000000003 x7 : ffff800080afe47c x6 : 0000000000000000
x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : ffff800080a88078
x2 : 0000000000000001 x1 : 00000000ffffffa8 x0 : 0000000000000000
Call trace:
handshake_nl_done_doit+0x198/0x9c8 net/handshake/netlink.c:193
genl_family_rcv_msg_doit net/netlink/genetlink.c:970 [inline]
genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:1050 [inline]
genl_rcv_msg+0x96c/0xc50 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1067
netlink_rcv_skb+0x214/0x3c4 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2549
genl_rcv+0x38/0x50 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1078
netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 [inline]
netlink_unicast+0x660/0x8d4 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1365
netlink_sendmsg+0x834/0xb18 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1914
sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:725 [inline]
sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:748 [inline]
____sys_sendmsg+0x56c/0x840 net/socket.c:2494
___sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2548 [inline]
__sys_sendmsg+0x26c/0x33c net/socket.c:2577
__do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2586 [inline]
__se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2584 [inline]
__arm64_sys_sendmsg+0x80/0x94 net/socket.c:2584
__invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:37 [inline]
invoke_syscall+0x98/0x2b8 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:51
el0_svc_common+0x130/0x23c arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:136
do_el0_svc+0x48/0x58 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:155
el0_svc+0x58/0x16c arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:678
el0t_64_sync_handler+0x84/0xfc arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:696
el0t_64_sync+0x190/0x194 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:591
Code: 12800108 b90043e8 910062b3 d343fe68 (387b6908)

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53686?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53686?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53686 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53686 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-2023-53686 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53686 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-2023-53686 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-2023-53686/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53686/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53686
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53686
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53686

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53686/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.