# CVE-2023-54155: net: core: remove unnecessary frame_sz check in bpf_xdp_adjust_tail()

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel warning and potential denial of service by sending crafted packets via TUN devices due to an unnecessary frame size check in XDP.

- **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-2023-54155, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54155, GHSA-4jvp-69v8-wvq5, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54155

## What is CVE-2023-54155?

CVE-2023-54155 is a denial of service 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: core: remove unnecessary frame_sz check in bpf_xdp_adjust_tail()

Syzkaller reported the following issue:
=======================================
Too BIG xdp->frame_sz = 131072
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 5020 at net/core/filter.c:4121
  ____bpf_xdp_adjust_tail net/core/filter.c:4121 [inline]
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 5020 at net/core/filter.c:4121
  bpf_xdp_adjust_tail+0x466/0xa10 net/core/filter.c:4103
...
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 bpf_prog_4add87e5301a4105+0x1a/0x1c
 __bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:600 [inline]
 bpf_prog_run_xdp include/linux/filter.h:775 [inline]
 bpf_prog_run_generic_xdp+0x57e/0x11e0 net/core/dev.c:4721
 netif_receive_generic_xdp net/core/dev.c:4807 [inline]
 do_xdp_generic+0x35c/0x770 net/core/dev.c:4866
 tun_get_user+0x2340/0x3ca0 drivers/net/tun.c:1919
 tun_chr_write_iter+0xe8/0x210 drivers/net/tun.c:2043
 call_write_iter include/linux/fs.h:1871 [inline]
 new_sync_write fs/read_write.c:491 [inline]
 vfs_write+0x650/0xe40 fs/read_write.c:584
 ksys_write+0x12f/0x250 fs/read_write.c:637
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x38/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

xdp->frame_sz > PAGE_SIZE check was introduced in commit c8741e2bfe87
("xdp: Allow bpf_xdp_adjust_tail() to grow packet size"). But Jesper
Dangaard Brouer <jbrouer@redhat.com> noted that after introducing the
xdp_init_buff() which all XDP driver use - it's safe to remove this
check. The original intend was to catch cases where XDP drivers have
not been updated to use xdp.frame_sz, but that is not longer a concern
(since xdp_init_buff).

Running the initial syzkaller repro it was discovered that the
contiguous physical memory allocation is used for both xdp paths in
tun_get_user(), e.g. tun_build_skb() and tun_alloc_skb(). It was also
stated by Jesper Dangaard Brouer <jbrouer@redhat.com> that XDP can
work on higher order pages, as long as this is contiguous physical
memory (e.g. a page).

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54155?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54155?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54155 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54155 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54155 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54155 is a denial of service 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-2023-54155 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-2023-54155/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54155/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54155
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54155
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54155

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54155/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.