# CVE-2023-53752: net: deal with integer overflows in kmalloc_reserve()

> An integer overflow in the Linux kernel network subsystem can cause a crash when handling large MTU values, leading to denial of service.

- **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:** 8 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53752, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53752, GHSA-5g3x-gjgm-77rp, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53752

## What is CVE-2023-53752?

CVE-2023-53752 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 8 Dec 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: deal with integer overflows in kmalloc_reserve()

Blamed commit changed:
    ptr = kmalloc(size);
    if (ptr)
      size = ksize(ptr);

    size = kmalloc_size_roundup(size);
    ptr = kmalloc(size);

This allowed various crash as reported by syzbot [1]
and Kyle Zeng.

Problem is that if @size is bigger than 0x80000001,
kmalloc_size_roundup(size) returns 2^32.

kmalloc_reserve() uses a 32bit variable (obj_size),
so 2^32 is truncated to 0.

kmalloc(0) returns ZERO_SIZE_PTR which is not handled by
skb allocations.

Following trace can be triggered if a netdev->mtu is set
close to 0x7fffffff

We might in the future limit netdev->mtu to more sensible
limit (like KMALLOC_MAX_SIZE).

This patch is based on a syzbot report, and also a report
and tentative fix from Kyle Zeng.

[1]
BUG: KASAN: user-memory-access in __build_skb_around net/core/skbuff.c:294 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: user-memory-access in __alloc_skb+0x3c4/0x6e8 net/core/skbuff.c:527
Write of size 32 at addr 00000000fffffd10 by task syz-executor.4/22554

CPU: 1 PID: 22554 Comm: syz-executor.4 Not tainted 6.1.39-syzkaller #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 07/03/2023
Call trace:
dump_backtrace+0x1c8/0x1f4 arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:279
show_stack+0x2c/0x3c arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:286
__dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline]
dump_stack_lvl+0x120/0x1a0 lib/dump_stack.c:106
print_report+0xe4/0x4b4 mm/kasan/report.c:398
kasan_report+0x150/0x1ac mm/kasan/report.c:495
kasan_check_range+0x264/0x2a4 mm/kasan/generic.c:189
memset+0x40/0x70 mm/kasan/shadow.c:44
__build_skb_around net/core/skbuff.c:294 [inline]
__alloc_skb+0x3c4/0x6e8 net/core/skbuff.c:527
alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1316 [inline]
igmpv3_newpack+0x104/0x1088 net/ipv4/igmp.c:359
add_grec+0x81c/0x1124 net/ipv4/igmp.c:534
igmpv3_send_cr net/ipv4/igmp.c:667 [inline]
igmp_ifc_timer_expire+0x1b0/0x1008 net/ipv4/igmp.c:810
call_timer_fn+0x1c0/0x9f0 kernel/time/timer.c:1474
expire_timers kernel/time/timer.c:1519 [inline]
__run_timers+0x54c/0x710 kernel/time/timer.c:1790
run_timer_softirq+0x28/0x4c kernel/time/timer.c:1803
_stext+0x380/0xfbc
____do_softirq+0x14/0x20 arch/arm64/kernel/irq.c:79
call_on_irq_stack+0x24/0x4c arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:891
do_softirq_own_stack+0x20/0x2c arch/arm64/kernel/irq.c:84
invoke_softirq kernel/softirq.c:437 [inline]
__irq_exit_rcu+0x1c0/0x4cc kernel/softirq.c:683
irq_exit_rcu+0x14/0x78 kernel/softirq.c:695
el0_interrupt+0x7c/0x2e0 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:717
__el0_irq_handler_common+0x18/0x24 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:724
el0t_64_irq_handler+0x10/0x1c arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:729
el0t_64_irq+0x1a0/0x1a4 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:584

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53752?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53752?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53752 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53752 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53752 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53752 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 8 Dec 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-2023-53752 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2023-53752/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53752/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53752
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53752
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53752

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53752/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.