CVE-2023-54265 ipv6: Fix an uninit variable access bug in __ip6_make_skb()
A local attacker can trigger an uninitialized variable access in the Linux kernel IPv6 stack, potentially leaking sensitive memory contents.
- 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-2023-54265?
CVE-2023-54265 is a 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:
ipv6: Fix an uninit variable access bug in __ip6_make_skb()
Syzbot reported a bug as following:
===================================================== BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in arch_atomic64_inc arch/x86/include/asm/atomic64_64.h:88 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in arch_atomic_long_inc include/linux/atomic/atomic-long.h:161 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in atomic_long_inc include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:1429 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in __ip6_make_skb+0x2f37/0x30f0 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:1956 arch_atomic64_inc arch/x86/include/asm/atomic64_64.h:88 [inline] arch_atomic_long_inc include/linux/atomic/atomic-long.h:161 [inline] atomic_long_inc include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:1429 [inline] __ip6_make_skb+0x2f37/0x30f0 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:1956 ip6_finish_skb include/net/ipv6.h:1122 [inline] ip6_push_pending_frames+0x10e/0x550 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:1987 rawv6_push_pending_frames+0xb12/0xb90 net/ipv6/raw.c:579 rawv6_sendmsg+0x297e/0x2e60 net/ipv6/raw.c:922 inet_sendmsg+0x101/0x180 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:827 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:714 [inline] sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:734 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0xa8e/0xe70 net/socket.c:2476 ___sys_sendmsg+0x2a1/0x3f0 net/socket.c:2530 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2559 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2568 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2566 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x367/0x540 net/socket.c:2566 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x3d/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
Uninit was created at: slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slab.h:766 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:3452 [inline] __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x71f/0xce0 mm/slub.c:3491 __do_kmalloc_node mm/slab_common.c:967 [inline] __kmalloc_node_track_caller+0x114/0x3b0 mm/slab_common.c:988 kmalloc_reserve net/core/skbuff.c:492 [inline] __alloc_skb+0x3af/0x8f0 net/core/skbuff.c:565 alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1270 [inline] __ip6_append_data+0x51c1/0x6bb0 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:1684 ip6_append_data+0x411/0x580 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:1854 rawv6_sendmsg+0x2882/0x2e60 net/ipv6/raw.c:915 inet_sendmsg+0x101/0x180 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:827 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:714 [inline] sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:734 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0xa8e/0xe70 net/socket.c:2476 ___sys_sendmsg+0x2a1/0x3f0 net/socket.c:2530 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2559 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2568 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2566 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x367/0x540 net/socket.c:2566 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x3d/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
It is because icmp6hdr does not in skb linear region under the scenario of SOCK_RAW socket. Access icmp6_hdr(skb)->icmp6_type directly will trigger the uninit variable access bug.
Use a local variable icmp6_type to carry the correct value in different scenarios.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54265?
How do I fix CVE-2023-54265?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2023-54265 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54265 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2023-54265, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54265, GHSA-wm5w-7h48-37x2, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54265.