CVE-2023-53855

Local denial of service via unlocked DSA teardown

Published Dec 9, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Locking defect in Linux allows local users to interrupt service by unbinding an Ocelot DSA driver using 802.1Q tagging. The Felix teardown path calls dsa_tag_8021q_unregister() without holding rtnl_lock(), causing RTNL assertions while VLAN identifiers are removed. Reachability requires local permission to unbind the PCI driver and the non-default ocelot-8021q tagging protocol to be active.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Locking defect in Linux allows local users to interrupt service by unbinding an Ocelot DSA driver using 802.1Q tagging. The Felix teardown path calls dsa_tag_8021q_unregister() without holding rtnl_lock(), causing RTNL assertions while VLAN identifiers are removed. Reachability requires local permission to unbind the PCI driver and the non-default ocelot-8021q tagging protocol to be active.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53855
Published
Dec 9, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 9, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 11, 2026Record 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=5.12
  2. Affected versionversion=7c83a7c539abe9f980996063ac20532a7a7f6eb1 <758dbcfb257e1aee0a310bae789c2af6ffe35d0f
  3. Affected versionversion=7c83a7c539abe9f980996063ac20532a7a7f6eb1 <7ae8fa6b70975b6efbbef7912d09bff5a0bff491
  4. Affected versionversion=7c83a7c539abe9f980996063ac20532a7a7f6eb1 <a94c16a2fda010866b8858a386a8bfbeba4f72c5

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.12; version=7c83a7c539abe9f980996063ac20532a7a7f6eb1 <758dbcfb257e1aee0a310bae789c2af6ffe35d0f; version=7c83a7c539abe9f980996063ac20532a7a7f6eb1 <7ae8fa6b70975b6efbbef7912d09bff5a0bff491; version=7c83a7c539abe9f980996063ac20532a7a7f6eb1 <a94c16a2fda010866b8858a386a8bfbeba4f72c5

Published CVSS scores

5.5Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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.

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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

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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