CVE-2023-53204

CVE-2023-53204 is a medium-severity race condition vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.

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Runtime intelligence, not another scanner.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: af_unix: Fix data-races...

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

af_unix: Fix data-races around user->unix_inflight.

user->unix_inflight is changed under spin_lock(unix_gc_lock),
but too_many_unix_fds() reads it locklessly.

Let's annotate the write/read accesses to user->unix_inflight.

BUG: KCSAN: data-race in unix_attach_fds / unix_inflight

write to 0xffffffff8546f2d0 of 8 bytes by task 44798 on cpu 1:
unix_inflight+0x157/0x180 net/unix/scm.c:66
unix_attach_fds+0x147/0x1e0 net/unix/scm.c:123
unix_scm_to_skb net/unix/af_unix.c:1827 [inline]
unix_dgram_sendmsg+0x46a/0x14f0 net/unix/af_unix.c:1950
unix_seqpacket_sendmsg net/unix/af_unix.c:2308 [inline]
unix_seqpacket_sendmsg+0xba/0x130 net/unix/af_unix.c:2292
sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:725 [inline]
sock_sendmsg+0x148/0x160 net/socket.c:748
____sys_sendmsg+0x4e4/0x610 net/socket.c:2494
___sys_sendmsg+0xc6/0x140 net/socket.c:2548
__sys_sendmsg+0x94/0x140 net/socket.c:2577
__do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2586 [inline]
__se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2584 [inline]
__x64_sys_sendmsg+0x45/0x50 net/socket.c:2584
do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8

read to 0xffffffff8546f2d0 of 8 bytes by task 44814 on cpu 0:
too_many_unix_fds net/unix/scm.c:101 [inline]
unix_attach_fds+0x54/0x1e0 net/unix/scm.c:110
unix_scm_to_skb net/unix/af_unix.c:1827 [inline]
unix_dgram_sendmsg+0x46a/0x14f0 net/unix/af_unix.c:1950
unix_seqpacket_sendmsg net/unix/af_unix.c:2308 [inline]
unix_seqpacket_sendmsg+0xba/0x130 net/unix/af_unix.c:2292
sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:725 [inline]
sock_sendmsg+0x148/0x160 net/socket.c:748
____sys_sendmsg+0x4e4/0x610 net/socket.c:2494
___sys_sendmsg+0xc6/0x140 net/socket.c:2548
__sys_sendmsg+0x94/0x140 net/socket.c:2577
__do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2586 [inline]
__se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2584 [inline]
__x64_sys_sendmsg+0x45/0x50 net/socket.c:2584
do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline]
do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8

value changed: 0x000000000000000c -> 0x000000000000000d

Reported by Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer on:
CPU: 0 PID: 44814 Comm: systemd-coredum Not tainted 6.4.0-11989-g6843306689af #6
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552ce722-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014

Impact

Multiple concurrent operations access a shared resource without proper synchronization, producing unpredictable results depending on timing. Typical impact: TOCTOU exploits, data corruption, or privilege escalation.

CVE-2023-53204 has a CVSS score of 4.7 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.

Affected versions

Not available

Security releases

Not available

Kodem intelligence

Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.

Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.

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Remediation advice

Not available

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is CVE-2023-53204? CVE-2023-53204 is a medium-severity race condition vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet. Multiple concurrent operations access a shared resource without proper synchronization, producing unpredictable results depending on timing.
  2. How severe is CVE-2023-53204? CVE-2023-53204 has a CVSS score of 4.7 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
  3. Is there a fix for CVE-2023-53204? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2023-53204 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
  4. Is CVE-2023-53204 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-53204 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
  5. What actually determines whether CVE-2023-53204 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.

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