CVE-2023-53597
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided
BaseFortify

Publication date: 2025-10-04

Last updated on: 2026-03-23

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: fix mid leak during reconnection after timeout threshold When the number of responses with status of STATUS_IO_TIMEOUT exceeds a specified threshold (NUM_STATUS_IO_TIMEOUT), we reconnect the connection. But we do not return the mid, or the credits returned for the mid, or reduce the number of in-flight requests. This bug could result in the server->in_flight count to go bad, and also cause a leak in the mids. This change moves the check to a few lines below where the response is decrypted, even of the response is read from the transform header. This way, the code for returning the mids can be reused. Also, the cifs_reconnect was reconnecting just the transport connection before. In case of multi-channel, this may not be what we want to do after several timeouts. Changed that to reconnect the session and the tree too. Also renamed NUM_STATUS_IO_TIMEOUT to a more appropriate name MAX_STATUS_IO_TIMEOUT.
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
Probability:
Percentile:
Meta Information
Published
2025-10-04
Last Modified
2026-03-23
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2025-10-04
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2023-53597
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 2 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel 6.5
linux linux_kernel From 5.15.160 (inc) to 5.16 (inc)
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
KEV Icon
CWE ID Description
CWE-401 The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Quick Actions
Instant insights powered by AI
Executive Summary

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel's CIFS implementation involves a leak of 'mids' (message IDs) during reconnection after a timeout threshold is exceeded. When too many responses return a STATUS_IO_TIMEOUT status, the connection is reconnected, but the system fails to properly return the mids or credits associated with them, and does not reduce the count of in-flight requests. This causes the server's in-flight request count to become incorrect and leads to a leak of mids. The fix involves adjusting where the check occurs in the code and improving the reconnection process to handle multi-channel sessions properly.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause resource leaks and incorrect tracking of in-flight requests in the CIFS connection, potentially leading to degraded performance, instability, or unexpected behavior in systems using CIFS on the Linux kernel. Over time, the leak of mids and incorrect request counts could affect the reliability of network file sharing sessions.

Chat Assistant
Ask questions about this CVE
Hi! I’m here to help you understand CVE-2023-53597. Ask me anything about the vulnerability, its impact, or mitigation strategies.
0/70
EPSS Chart