CVE-2023-54193 net/sched: cls_api: remove block_cb from driver_list before freeing
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's traffic control subsystem allows local attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges.
- 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
What is CVE-2023-54193?
CVE-2023-54193 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 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/sched: cls_api: remove block_cb from driver_list before freeing
Error handler of tcf_block_bind() frees the whole bo->cb_list on error. However, by that time the flow_block_cb instances are already in the driver list because driver ndo_setup_tc() callback is called before that up the call chain in tcf_block_offload_cmd(). This leaves dangling pointers to freed objects in the list and causes use-after-free[0]. Fix it by also removing flow_block_cb instances from driver_list before deallocating them.
[0]: [ 279.868433] ================================================================== [ 279.869964] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in flow_block_cb_setup_simple+0x631/0x7c0 [ 279.871527] Read of size 8 at addr ffff888147e2bf20 by task tc/2963
[ 279.873151] CPU: 6 PID: 2963 Comm: tc Not tainted 6.3.0-rc6+ #4 [ 279.874273] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [ 279.876295] Call Trace: [ 279.876882] <TASK> [ 279.877413] dump_stack_lvl+0x33/0x50 [ 279.878198] print_report+0xc2/0x610 [ 279.878987] ? flow_block_cb_setup_simple+0x631/0x7c0 [ 279.879994] kasan_report+0xae/0xe0 [ 279.880750] ? flow_block_cb_setup_simple+0x631/0x7c0 [ 279.881744] ? mlx5e_tc_reoffload_flows_work+0x240/0x240 [mlx5_core] [ 279.883047] flow_block_cb_setup_simple+0x631/0x7c0 [ 279.884027] tcf_block_offload_cmd.isra.0+0x189/0x2d0 [ 279.885037] ? tcf_block_setup+0x6b0/0x6b0 [ 279.885901] ? mutex_lock+0x7d/0xd0 [ 279.886669] ? __mutex_unlock_slowpath.constprop.0+0x2d0/0x2d0 [ 279.887844] ? ingress_init+0x1c0/0x1c0 [sch_ingress] [ 279.888846] tcf_block_get_ext+0x61c/0x1200 [ 279.889711] ingress_init+0x112/0x1c0 [sch_ingress] [ 279.890682] ? clsact_init+0x2b0/0x2b0 [sch_ingress] [ 279.891701] qdisc_create+0x401/0xea0 [ 279.892485] ? qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog+0x470/0x470 [ 279.893473] tc_modify_qdisc+0x6f7/0x16d0 [ 279.894344] ? tc_get_qdisc+0xac0/0xac0 [ 279.895213] ? mutex_lock+0x7d/0xd0 [ 279.896005] ? __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x10/0x10 [ 279.896910] rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x5fe/0x9d0 [ 279.897770] ? rtnl_calcit.isra.0+0x2b0/0x2b0 [ 279.898672] ? __sys_sendmsg+0xb5/0x140 [ 279.899494] ? do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90 [ 279.900302] ? entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 [ 279.901337] ? kasan_save_stack+0x2e/0x40 [ 279.902177] ? kasan_save_stack+0x1e/0x40 [ 279.903058] ? kasan_set_track+0x21/0x30 [ 279.903913] ? kasan_save_free_info+0x2a/0x40 [ 279.904836] ? ____kasan_slab_free+0x11a/0x1b0 [ 279.905741] ? kmem_cache_free+0x179/0x400 [ 279.906599] netlink_rcv_skb+0x12c/0x360 [ 279.907450] ? rtnl_calcit.isra.0+0x2b0/0x2b0 [ 279.908360] ? netlink_ack+0x1550/0x1550 [ 279.909192] ? rhashtable_walk_peek+0x170/0x170 [ 279.910135] ? kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x1af/0x390 [ 279.911086] ? _copy_from_iter+0x3d6/0xc70 [ 279.912031] netlink_unicast+0x553/0x790 [ 279.912864] ? netlink_attachskb+0x6a0/0x6a0 [ 279.913763] ? netlink_recvmsg+0x416/0xb50 [ 279.914627] netlink_sendmsg+0x7a1/0xcb0 [ 279.915473] ? netlink_unicast+0x790/0x790 [ 279.916334] ? iovec_from_user.part.0+0x4d/0x220 [ 279.917293] ? netlink_unicast+0x790/0x790 [ 279.918159] sock_sendmsg+0xc5/0x190 [ 279.918938] ____sys_sendmsg+0x535/0x6b0 [ 279.919813] ? import_iovec+0x7/0x10 [ 279.920601] ? kernel_sendmsg+0x30/0x30 [ 279.921423] ? __copy_msghdr+0x3c0/0x3c0 [ 279.922254] ? import_iovec+0x7/0x10 [ 279.923041] ___sys_sendmsg+0xeb/0x170 [ 279.923854] ? copy_msghdr_from_user+0x110/0x110 [ 279.924797] ? ___sys_recvmsg+0xd9/0x130 [ 279.925630] ? __perf_event_task_sched_in+0x183/0x470 [ 279.926656] ? ___sys_sendmsg+0x170/0x170 [ 279.927529] ? ctx_sched_in+0x530/0x530 [ 279.928369] ? update_curr+0x283/0x4f0 [ 279.929185] ? perf_event_update_userpage+0x570/0x570 [ 279.930201] ? __fget_light+0x57/0x520 [ 279.931023] ? __switch_to+0x53d/0xe70 [ 27 ---truncated---
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54193?
How do I fix CVE-2023-54193?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2023-54193 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54193 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-54193, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54193, GHSA-w7r9-4gjq-hqm4, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54193.