Vulnerability Database

374,589

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2023-53601 — linux / linux_kernel

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

bonding: do not assume skb mac_header is set

Drivers must not assume in their ndo_start_xmit() that skbs have their mac_header set. skb->data is all what is needed.

bonding seems to be one of the last offender as caught by syzbot:

WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 skb_mac_offset include/linux/skbuff.h:2913 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_xmit_hash drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:4170 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_xmit_3ad_xor_slave_get drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5149 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_3ad_xor_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5186 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 __bond_start_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5442 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 bond_start_xmit+0x14ab/0x19d0 drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5470 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 PID: 12155 Comm: syz-executor.3 Not tainted 6.1.30-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/25/2023 RIP: 0010:skb_mac_header include/linux/skbuff.h:2907 [inline] RIP: 0010:skb_mac_offset include/linux/skbuff.h:2913 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_xmit_hash drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:4170 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_xmit_3ad_xor_slave_get drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5149 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_3ad_xor_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5186 [inline] RIP: 0010:__bond_start_xmit drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5442 [inline] RIP: 0010:bond_start_xmit+0x14ab/0x19d0 drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5470 Code: 8b 7c 24 30 e8 76 dd 1a 01 48 85 c0 74 0d 48 89 c3 e8 29 67 2e fe e9 15 ef ff ff e8 1f 67 2e fe e9 10 ef ff ff e8 15 67 2e fe <0f> 0b e9 45 f8 ff ff e8 09 67 2e fe e9 dc fa ff ff e8 ff 66 2e fe RSP: 0018:ffffc90002fff6e0 EFLAGS: 00010283 RAX: ffffffff835874db RBX: 000000000000ffff RCX: 0000000000040000 RDX: ffffc90004dcf000 RSI: 00000000000000b5 RDI: 00000000000000b6 RBP: ffffc90002fff8b8 R08: ffffffff83586d16 R09: ffffffff83586584 R10: 0000000000000007 R11: ffff8881599fc780 R12: ffff88811b6a7b7e R13: 1ffff110236d4f6f R14: ffff88811b6a7ac0 R15: 1ffff110236d4f76 FS: 00007f2e9eb47700(0000) GS:ffff8881f6b00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000001b2e421000 CR3: 000000010e6d4000 CR4: 00000000003526e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> [<ffffffff8471a49f>] netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4925 [inline] [<ffffffff8471a49f>] __dev_direct_xmit+0x4ef/0x850 net/core/dev.c:4380 [<ffffffff851d845b>] dev_direct_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:3043 [inline] [<ffffffff851d845b>] packet_direct_xmit+0x18b/0x300 net/packet/af_packet.c:284 [<ffffffff851c7472>] packet_snd net/packet/af_packet.c:3112 [inline] [<ffffffff851c7472>] packet_sendmsg+0x4a22/0x64d0 net/packet/af_packet.c:3143 [<ffffffff8467a4b2>] sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:716 [inline] [<ffffffff8467a4b2>] sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:736 [inline] [<ffffffff8467a4b2>] __sys_sendto+0x472/0x5f0 net/socket.c:2139 [<ffffffff8467a715>] __do_sys_sendto net/socket.c:2151 [inline] [<ffffffff8467a715>] __se_sys_sendto net/socket.c:2147 [inline] [<ffffffff8467a715>] __x64_sys_sendto+0xe5/0x100 net/socket.c:2147 [<ffffffff8553071f>] do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] [<ffffffff8553071f>] do_syscall_64+0x2f/0x50 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 [<ffffffff85600087>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

  • Published: Oct 4, 2025
  • Updated: Feb 7, 2026
  • CVE: CVE-2023-53601
  • Severity: Medium
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Medium
  • Score: 5.5
  • AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

No CWE or OWASP classifications available.

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A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

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Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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