CVE-2023-53987

Local system crash via mismatched ping socket locking

Published Dec 24, 2025 · Updated Dec 24, 2025

Null-pointer dereference in the ping socket proc interface in Linux allows local users to crash the system by reading /proc/net/icmp. The ping_seq_start and ping_seq_stop path uses RCU read locking while ping-socket table updates use a spinlock, allowing concurrent iteration to encounter a removed entry. Low-privileged local access and a race with ping-socket updates are required; successful triggering crashes the running kernel.

CVSS severity7.0
High
EPSS probability0.19%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Null-pointer dereference in the ping socket proc interface in Linux allows local users to crash the system by reading /proc/net/icmp. The ping_seq_start and ping_seq_stop path uses RCU read locking while ping-socket table updates use a spinlock, allowing concurrent iteration to encounter a removed entry. Low-privileged local access and a race with ping-socket updates are required; successful triggering crashes the running kernel.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-53987
Published
Dec 24, 2025
Updated
Dec 24, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 24, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 24, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=6.0
  2. Affected versionversion=dbca1596bbb08318f5e3b3b99f8ca0a0d3830a65 <176cbb6da28f36506cc60a4bec4ab8df0c16713a
  3. Affected versionversion=dbca1596bbb08318f5e3b3b99f8ca0a0d3830a65 <5a08a32e624908890aa0a2eb442bb6a7669891a8
  4. Affected versionversion=dbca1596bbb08318f5e3b3b99f8ca0a0d3830a65 <ab5fb73ffa01072b4d8031cc05801fa1cb653bee
  5. Affected versionversion=de3d723a3985f282a8c9e468d1e198616eb291c8

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.0; version=dbca1596bbb08318f5e3b3b99f8ca0a0d3830a65 <176cbb6da28f36506cc60a4bec4ab8df0c16713a; version=dbca1596bbb08318f5e3b3b99f8ca0a0d3830a65 <5a08a32e624908890aa0a2eb442bb6a7669891a8; version=dbca1596bbb08318f5e3b3b99f8ca0a0d3830a65 <ab5fb73ffa01072b4d8031cc05801fa1cb653bee; version=de3d723a3985f282a8c9e468d1e198616eb291c8

Published CVSS scores

7.0Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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

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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