Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-52572

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 2.6.16 – 5.4.297

Published
02 March 2024
Modified
25 November 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0023 14th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-52572 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked at the 14th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: Fix UAF in cifs_demultiplex_thread() There is a UAF when xfstests on cifs: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in smb2_is_network_name_deleted+0x27/0x160 Read of size 4 at addr ffff88810103fc08 by task cifsd/923 CPU: 1…

more

PID: 923 Comm: cifsd Not tainted 6.1.0-rc4+ #45 ... Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x34/0x44 print_report+0x171/0x472 kasan_report+0xad/0x130 kasan_check_range+0x145/0x1a0 smb2_is_network_name_deleted+0x27/0x160 cifs_demultiplex_thread.cold+0x172/0x5a4 kthread+0x165/0x1a0 ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 </TASK> Allocated by task 923: kasan_save_stack+0x1e/0x40 kasan_set_track+0x21/0x30 __kasan_slab_alloc+0x54/0x60 kmem_cache_alloc+0x147/0x320 mempool_alloc+0xe1/0x260 cifs_small_buf_get+0x24/0x60 allocate_buffers+0xa1/0x1c0 cifs_demultiplex_thread+0x199/0x10d0 kthread+0x165/0x1a0 ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 Freed by task 921: kasan_save_stack+0x1e/0x40 kasan_set_track+0x21/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x2a/0x40 ____kasan_slab_free+0x143/0x1b0 kmem_cache_free+0xe3/0x4d0 cifs_small_buf_release+0x29/0x90 SMB2_negotiate+0x8b7/0x1c60 smb2_negotiate+0x51/0x70 cifs_negotiate_protocol+0xf0/0x160 cifs_get_smb_ses+0x5fa/0x13c0 mount_get_conns+0x7a/0x750 cifs_mount+0x103/0xd00 cifs_smb3_do_mount+0x1dd/0xcb0 smb3_get_tree+0x1d5/0x300 vfs_get_tree+0x41/0xf0 path_mount+0x9b3/0xdd0 __x64_sys_mount+0x190/0x1d0 do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0 The UAF is because: mount(pid: 921) | cifsd(pid: 923) -------------------------------|------------------------------- | cifs_demultiplex_thread SMB2_negotiate | cifs_send_recv | compound_send_recv | smb_send_rqst | wait_for_response | wait_event_state [1] | | standard_receive3 | cifs_handle_standard | handle_mid | mid->resp_buf = buf; [2] | dequeue_mid [3] KILL the process [4] | resp_iov[i].iov_base = buf | free_rsp_buf [5] | | is_network_name_deleted [6] | callback 1. After send request to server, wait the response until mid->mid_state != SUBMITTED; 2. Receive response from server, and set it to mid; 3. Set the mid state to RECEIVED; 4. Kill the process, the mid state already RECEIVED, get 0; 5. Handle and release the negotiate response; 6. UAF. It can be easily reproduce with add some delay in [3] - [6]. Only sync call has the problem since async call's callback is executed in cifsd process. Add an extra state to mark the mid state to READY before wakeup the waitter, then it can get the resp safely.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

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Affected Assets

debian
debian linux
11.0
linux
linux kernel
6.6 · 2.6.16 — 5.4.297 · 5.5 — 5.10.237 · 5.11 — 5.15.181

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References