# CVE-2023-54094: net: prevent skb corruption on frag list segmentation > A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel network stack allows attackers to cause a system crash via crafted network packets. - **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Not needed - **Attackable:** Over the internet - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 24 Dec 2025 - **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54094, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54094, GHSA-6wgm-8c2c-jvc6, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54094 ## What is CVE-2023-54094? CVE-2023-54094 is a critical vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. ### Official description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: prevent skb corruption on frag list segmentation Ian reported several skb corruptions triggered by rx-gro-list, collecting different oops alike: [ 62.624003] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000c0 [ 62.631083] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 62.636312] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 62.641541] PGD 0 P4D 0 [ 62.644174] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI [ 62.648629] CPU: 1 PID: 913 Comm: napi/eno2-79 Not tainted 6.4.0 #364 [ 62.655162] Hardware name: Supermicro Super Server/A2SDi-12C-HLN4F, BIOS 1.7a 10/13/2022 [ 62.663344] RIP: 0010:__udp_gso_segment (./include/linux/skbuff.h:2858 ./include/linux/udp.h:23 net/ipv4/udp_offload.c:228 net/ipv4/udp_offload.c:261 net/ipv4/udp_offload.c:277) [ 62.687193] RSP: 0018:ffffbd3a83b4f868 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 62.692515] RAX: 00000000000000ce RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 62.699743] RDX: ffffa124def8a000 RSI: 0000000000000079 RDI: ffffa125952a14d4 [ 62.706970] RBP: ffffa124def8a000 R08: 0000000000000022 R09: 00002000001558c9 [ 62.714199] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 00000000be554639 R12: 00000000000000e2 [ 62.721426] R13: ffffa125952a1400 R14: ffffa125952a1400 R15: 00002000001558c9 [ 62.728654] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffffa127efa40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 62.736852] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 62.742702] CR2: 00000000000000c0 CR3: 00000001034b0000 CR4: 00000000003526e0 [ 62.749948] Call Trace: [ 62.752498] [ 62.779267] inet_gso_segment (net/ipv4/af_inet.c:1398) [ 62.787605] skb_mac_gso_segment (net/core/gro.c:141) [ 62.791906] __skb_gso_segment (net/core/dev.c:3403 (discriminator 2)) [ 62.800492] validate_xmit_skb (./include/linux/netdevice.h:4862 net/core/dev.c:3659) [ 62.804695] validate_xmit_skb_list (net/core/dev.c:3710) [ 62.809158] sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:330) [ 62.813198] __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3805 net/core/dev.c:4210) net/netfilter/core.c:626) [ 62.821093] br_dev_queue_push_xmit (net/bridge/br_forward.c:55) [ 62.825652] maybe_deliver (net/bridge/br_forward.c:193) [ 62.829420] br_flood (net/bridge/br_forward.c:233) [ 62.832758] br_handle_frame_finish (net/bridge/br_input.c:215) [ 62.837403] br_handle_frame (net/bridge/br_input.c:298 net/bridge/br_input.c:416) [ 62.851417] __netif_receive_skb_core.constprop.0 (net/core/dev.c:5387) [ 62.866114] __netif_receive_skb_list_core (net/core/dev.c:5570) [ 62.871367] netif_receive_skb_list_internal (net/core/dev.c:5638 net/core/dev.c:5727) [ 62.876795] napi_complete_done (./include/linux/list.h:37 ./include/net/gro.h:434 ./include/net/gro.h:429 net/core/dev.c:6067) [ 62.881004] ixgbe_poll (drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_main.c:3191) [ 62.893534] __napi_poll (net/core/dev.c:6498) [ 62.897133] napi_threaded_poll (./include/linux/netpoll.h:89 net/core/dev.c:6640) [ 62.905276] kthread (kernel/kthread.c:379) [ 62.913435] ret_from_fork (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:314) [ 62.917119] In the critical scenario, rx-gro-list GRO-ed packets are fed, via a bridge, both to the local input path and to an egress device (tun). The segmentation of such packets unsafely writes to the cloned skbs with shared heads. This change addresses the issue by uncloning as needed the to-be-segmented skbs. ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54094? ## How do I fix CVE-2023-54094? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2023-54094 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54094 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54094 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2023-54094 is a critical vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54094 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-2023-54094/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54094/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54094 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54094 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54094 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54094/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.