Use After Free in Linux

CVE-2023-53116

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvmet: avoid potential UAF in nvmet_req_complete() An nvme target ->queue_response() operation implementation may free the request passed as argument. Such implementation potentially could result in a use after free of the request pointer when percpu_ref_put() is called in nvmet_req_complete(). Avoid such problem by using a local variable to save the sq pointer before calling __nvmet_req_complete(), thus avoiding dereferencing the req pointer after that function call.

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (43.2th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 43rd percentile — 43.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2023-53116: held from 0.005 to 0.005.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.005 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions a07b4970f464f13640e28e16dad6cfa33647cc99, 4.8, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.3

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-53116?
CVE-2023-53116 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2025-05-02.
How severe is CVE-2023-53116?
Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.