# CVE-2023-54176: mptcp: stricter state check in mptcp_worker

> A remote attacker can trigger a kernel divide-by-zero error in the MPTCP worker, causing a system crash and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54176, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54176, GHSA-rpwv-q8h7-6mvf, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54176

## What is CVE-2023-54176?

CVE-2023-54176 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 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:

mptcp: stricter state check in mptcp_worker

As reported by Christoph, the mptcp protocol can run the
worker when the relevant msk socket is in an unexpected state:

connect()
// incoming reset + fastclose
// the mptcp worker is scheduled
mptcp_disconnect()
// msk is now CLOSED
listen()
mptcp_worker()

Leading to the following splat:

divide error: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
CPU: 1 PID: 21 Comm: kworker/1:0 Not tainted 6.3.0-rc1-gde5e8fd0123c #11
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.11.0-2.el7 04/01/2014
Workqueue: events mptcp_worker
RIP: 0010:__tcp_select_window+0x22c/0x4b0 net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:3018
RSP: 0018:ffffc900000b3c98 EFLAGS: 00010293
RAX: 000000000000ffd7 RBX: 000000000000ffd7 RCX: 0000000000000000
RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffffffff8214ce97 RDI: 0000000000000004
RBP: 000000000000ffd7 R08: 0000000000000004 R09: 0000000000010000
R10: 000000000000ffd7 R11: ffff888005afa148 R12: 000000000000ffd7
R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000
FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88803ed00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000000000405270 CR3: 000000003011e006 CR4: 0000000000370ee0
DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 tcp_select_window net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:262 [inline]
 __tcp_transmit_skb+0x356/0x1280 net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:1345
 tcp_transmit_skb net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:1417 [inline]
 tcp_send_active_reset+0x13e/0x320 net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:3459
 mptcp_check_fastclose net/mptcp/protocol.c:2530 [inline]
 mptcp_worker+0x6c7/0x800 net/mptcp/protocol.c:2705
 process_one_work+0x3bd/0x950 kernel/workqueue.c:2390
 worker_thread+0x5b/0x610 kernel/workqueue.c:2537
 kthread+0x138/0x170 kernel/kthread.c:376
 ret_from_fork+0x2c/0x50 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:308
 </TASK>

This change addresses the issue explicitly checking for bad states
before running the mptcp worker.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54176?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54176?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54176 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54176 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54176 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54176 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 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-2023-54176 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-2023-54176/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54176/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54176
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54176
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54176

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54176/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.