# CVE-2023-53995: net: ipv4: fix one memleak in __inet_del_ifa()

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel IPv4 stack allows local attackers to cause denial of service by triggering a reference count leak in network device handling.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53995, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53995, GHSA-2cq7-86qp-4xjx, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53995

## What is CVE-2023-53995?

CVE-2023-53995 is a memory corruption 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:

net: ipv4: fix one memleak in __inet_del_ifa()

I got the below warning when do fuzzing test:
unregister_netdevice: waiting for bond0 to become free. Usage count = 2

It can be repoduced via:

ip link add bond0 type bond
sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.bond0.promote_secondaries=1
ip addr add 4.117.174.103/0 scope 0x40 dev bond0
ip addr add 192.168.100.111/255.255.255.254 scope 0 dev bond0
ip addr add 0.0.0.4/0 scope 0x40 secondary dev bond0
ip addr del 4.117.174.103/0 scope 0x40 dev bond0
ip link delete bond0 type bond

In this reproduction test case, an incorrect 'last_prim' is found in
__inet_del_ifa(), as a result, the secondary address(0.0.0.4/0 scope 0x40)
is lost. The memory of the secondary address is leaked and the reference of
in_device and net_device is leaked.

Fix this problem:
Look for 'last_prim' starting at location of the deleted IP and inserting
the promoted IP into the location of 'last_prim'.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53995?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53995?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53995 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53995 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53995 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53995 is a memory corruption 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-2023-53995 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-2023-53995/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53995/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53995
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53995
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53995

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53995/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.