CVE-2023-54142 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2023-54142
Vulnerability Scoring

7.8
/10
Very High Risk

Highly exploitable, CVE-2023-54142 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Local
    Vulnerability requires local system access.
  • Privileges Required: Low
    Some privileges are necessary to exploit the vulnerability.
  • Scope: Unchanged
    Exploit remains within the originally vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2023-54142 Details

Status: Deferred

Last updated: 🕙 04 Aug 2026, 10:19 UTC
Originally published on: 🕐 24 Dec 2025, 13:16 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 222 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

CVSS3 Type

Secondary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVE-2023-54142 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2023-54142: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gtp: Fix use-after-free in __gtp_encap_destroy(). syzkaller reported use-after-free in __gtp_encap_destroy(). [0] It shows the same process freed sk and touched it illegally. Commit e198987e7dd7 ("gtp: fix suspicious RCU usage") added lock_sock() and release_sock() in __gtp_encap_destroy() to protect sk->sk_user_data, but release_sock() is called after sock_put() releases the last refcnt. [0]: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in instrument_atomic_read_write include/linux/instrumented.h:96 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in atomic_try_cmpxchg_acquire include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:541 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in queued_spin_lock include/asm-generic/qspinlock.h:111 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in do_raw_spin_lock include/linux/spinlock.h:186 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __raw_spin_lock_bh include/linux/spinlock_api_smp.h:127 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in _raw_spin_lock_bh+0x75/0xe0 kernel/locking/spinlock.c:178 Write of size 4 at addr ffff88800dbef398 by task syz-executor.2/2401 CPU: 1 PID: 2401 Comm: syz-executor.2 Not tainted 6.4.0-rc5-01219-gfa0e21fa4443 #2 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552ce722-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x72/0xa0 lib/dump_stack.c:106 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:351 [inline] print_report+0xcc/0x620 mm/kasan/report.c:462 kasan_report+0xb2/0xe0 mm/kasan/report.c:572 check_region_inline mm/kasan/generic.c:181 [inline] kasan_check_range+0x39/0x1c0 mm/kasan/generic.c:187 instrument_atomic_read_write include/linux/instrumented.h:96 [inline] atomic_try_cmpxchg_acquire include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:541 [inline] queued_spin_lock include/asm-generic/qspinlock.h:111 [inline] do_raw_spin_lock include/linux/spinlock.h:186 [inline] __raw_spin_lock_bh include/linux/spinlock_api_smp.h:127 [inline] _raw_spin_lock_bh+0x75/0xe0 kernel/locking/spinlock.c:178 spin_lock_bh include/linux/spinlock.h:355 [inline] release_sock+0x1f/0x1a0 net/core/sock.c:3526 gtp_encap_disable_sock drivers/net/gtp.c:651 [inline] gtp_encap_disable+0xb9/0x220 drivers/net/gtp.c:664 gtp_dev_uninit+0x19/0x50 drivers/net/gtp.c:728 unregister_netdevice_many_notify+0x97e/0x1520 net/core/dev.c:10841 rtnl_delete_link net/core/rtnetlink.c:3216 [inline] rtnl_dellink+0x3c0/0xb30 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3268 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x450/0xb10 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6423 netlink_rcv_skb+0x15d/0x450 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2548 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x700/0x930 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1365 netlink_sendmsg+0x91c/0xe30 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1913 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:724 [inline] sock_sendmsg+0x1b7/0x200 net/socket.c:747 ____sys_sendmsg+0x75a/0x990 net/socket.c:2493 ___sys_sendmsg+0x11d/0x1c0 net/socket.c:2547 __sys_sendmsg+0xfe/0x1d0 net/socket.c:2576 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x3f/0x90 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc RIP: 0033:0x7f1168b1fe5d Code: ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d 73 9f 1b 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007f1167edccc8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002e RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00000000004bbf80 RCX: 00007f1168b1fe5d RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000200002c0 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00000000004bbf80 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 000000000000000b R14: 00007f1168b80530 R15: 0000000000000000 </TASK> Allocated by task 1483: kasan_save_stack+0x22/0x50 mm/kasan/common.c:45 kasan_set_track+0x25/0x30 mm/kasan/common.c:52 __kasan_slab_alloc+0x ---truncated---

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2023-54142

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2023-54142 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2023-54142

CVE-2023-54142 presents an accessible attack vector with minimal effort required. Restricting access controls and implementing security updates are critical to reducing exploitation risks.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2023-54142, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2023-54142, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2023-54142 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2023-54142 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2023-54142 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

CVE-2023-54142 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

Unknown

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