CVE-2023-53204

Local service interruption via lockless inflight-counter read

Published Sep 15, 2025 · Updated Sep 15, 2025

Race condition in the Linux kernel AF_UNIX subsystem allows local users to interrupt service through concurrent UNIX-domain descriptor passing. In net/unix/scm.c, unix_inflight updates user->unix_inflight under unix_gc_lock while too_many_unix_fds reads the counter without that lock. Triggering requires local code to pass file descriptors concurrently over AF_UNIX sockets; the record does not identify whether interruption occurs through a hang or crash.

CVSS severity4.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.12%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Race condition in the Linux kernel AF_UNIX subsystem allows local users to interrupt service through concurrent UNIX-domain descriptor passing. In net/unix/scm.c, unix_inflight updates user->unix_inflight under unix_gc_lock while too_many_unix_fds reads the counter without that lock. Triggering requires local code to pass file descriptors concurrently over AF_UNIX sockets; the record does not identify whether interruption occurs through a hang or crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53204
Published
Sep 15, 2025
Updated
Sep 15, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-362, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 15, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 15, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=3d024dcef2548028e9f9b7876a544e6e0af00175
  2. Affected versionversion=4.5
  3. Affected versionversion=5e226f9689d90ad8ab21b4a969ae3058777f0aff
  4. Affected versionversion=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <03d133dfbcec9d439729cc64706c7eb6d1663a24
  5. Affected versionversion=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <0bc36c0650b21df36fbec8136add83936eaf0607
  6. Affected versionversion=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <9151ed4b006125cba7c06c79df504340ea4e9386
  7. Affected versionversion=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <ac92f239a079678a035c0faad9089354a874aede
  8. Affected versionversion=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <adcf4e069358cdee8593663650ea447215a1c49e
  9. Affected versionversion=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <b401d7e485b0a234cf8fe9a6ae99dbcd20863138
  10. Affected versionversion=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <b9cdbb38e030fc2fe97fe27b54cbb6b4fbff250f
  11. Affected versionversion=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <df97b5ea9f3ac9308c3a633524dab382cd59d9e5
  12. Affected versionversion=9b8b611fe0f86f07a4ff4a5f3bcb0ea7ceb7da3b
  13. Affected versionversion=a5a6cf8c405e826ff7ed1308dde72560c0ed4854
  14. Affected versionversion=a5b9e44af8d3edaf49d14a91cc519a9fba439e67
  15. Affected versionversion=aa51d1c24ec3b6605f7cc7ef500c96cd71d7ef90
  16. Affected versionversion=dc6b0ec667f67d4768e72c1b7f1bbc14ea52379c
  17. Affected versionversion=df87da0783c4492b944badfea9d5c3c56b834697

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=3d024dcef2548028e9f9b7876a544e6e0af00175; version=4.5; version=5e226f9689d90ad8ab21b4a969ae3058777f0aff; version=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <03d133dfbcec9d439729cc64706c7eb6d1663a24; version=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <0bc36c0650b21df36fbec8136add83936eaf0607; version=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <9151ed4b006125cba7c06c79df504340ea4e9386; version=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <ac92f239a079678a035c0faad9089354a874aede; version=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <adcf4e069358cdee8593663650ea447215a1c49e; version=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <b401d7e485b0a234cf8fe9a6ae99dbcd20863138; version=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <b9cdbb38e030fc2fe97fe27b54cbb6b4fbff250f; version=712f4aad406bb1ed67f3f98d04c044191f0ff593 <df97b5ea9f3ac9308c3a633524dab382cd59d9e5; version=9b8b611fe0f86f07a4ff4a5f3bcb0ea7ceb7da3b; version=a5a6cf8c405e826ff7ed1308dde72560c0ed4854; version=a5b9e44af8d3edaf49d14a91cc519a9fba439e67; version=aa51d1c24ec3b6605f7cc7ef500c96cd71d7ef90; version=dc6b0ec667f67d4768e72c1b7f1bbc14ea52379c; version=df87da0783c4492b944badfea9d5c3c56b834697

Published CVSS scores

4.7NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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