# CVE-2023-53987: ping: Fix potentail NULL deref for /proc/net/icmp.

> A local attacker can trigger a NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's ping socket handling, causing a system crash.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53987, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53987, GHSA-m6qc-r2rx-cm2q, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53987

## What is CVE-2023-53987?

CVE-2023-53987 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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:

ping: Fix potentail NULL deref for /proc/net/icmp.

After commit dbca1596bbb0 ("ping: convert to RCU lookups, get rid
of rwlock"), we use RCU for ping sockets, but we should use spinlock
for /proc/net/icmp to avoid a potential NULL deref mentioned in
the previous patch.

Let's go back to using spinlock there.

Note we can convert ping sockets to use hlist instead of hlist_nulls
because we do not use SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU for ping sockets.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53987?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53987?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53987 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53987 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53987 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53987 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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-2023-53987 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-2023-53987/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53987/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53987
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53987
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53987

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53987/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.