CVE-2023-54262

net/mlx5e: Don't clone flow post action attributes second time

HIGH
8.8
CVSS Score
Published: December 30, 2025 at 12:15 PM UTC
Updated: October 15, 2026 at 10:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH8.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: Don't clone flow post action attributes second time The code already clones post action attributes in mlx5e_clone_flow_attr_for_post_act(). Creating another copy in mlx5e_tc_post_act_add() is a erroneous leftover from original implementation. Instead, assign handle->attribute to post_attr provided by the caller. Note that cloning the attribute second time is not just wasteful but also causes issues like second copy not being properly updated in neigh update code which leads to following use-after-free: Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in mlx5_cmd_set_fte+0x200d/0x24c0 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: kasan_report+0xbb/0x1a0 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: kasan_save_stack+0x1e/0x40 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: kasan_set_track+0x21/0x30 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: __kasan_kmalloc+0x7a/0x90 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: kasan_save_stack+0x1e/0x40 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: kasan_set_track+0x21/0x30 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: kasan_save_free_info+0x2a/0x40 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: ____kasan_slab_free+0x11a/0x1b0 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5_core 0000:08:00.0: mlx5_cmd_out_err:803:(pid 8833): SET_FLOW_TABLE_ENTRY(0x936) op_mod(0x0) failed, status bad resource state(0x9), syndrome (0xf2ff71), err(-22) Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5_core 0000:08:00.0 enp8s0f0: Failed to add post action rule Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5_core 0000:08:00.0: mlx5e_tc_encap_flows_add:190:(pid 8833): Failed to update flow post acts, -22 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: Call Trace: Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: <TASK> Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: dump_stack_lvl+0x57/0x7d Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: print_report+0x170/0x471 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: ? mlx5_cmd_set_fte+0x200d/0x24c0 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: kasan_report+0xbb/0x1a0 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: ? mlx5_cmd_set_fte+0x200d/0x24c0 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5_cmd_set_fte+0x200d/0x24c0 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: ? __module_address.part.0+0x62/0x200 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: ? mlx5_cmd_stub_create_flow_table+0xd0/0xd0 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: ? __raw_spin_lock_init+0x3b/0x110 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5_cmd_create_fte+0x80/0xb0 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: add_rule_fg+0xe80/0x19c0 [mlx5_core] -- Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: Allocated by task 13476: Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: kasan_save_stack+0x1e/0x40 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: kasan_set_track+0x21/0x30 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: __kasan_kmalloc+0x7a/0x90 Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5_packet_reformat_alloc+0x7b/0x230 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5e_tc_tun_create_header_ipv4+0x977/0xf10 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5e_attach_encap+0x15b4/0x1e10 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: post_process_attr+0x305/0xa30 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5e_tc_add_fdb_flow+0x4c0/0xcf0 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: __mlx5e_add_fdb_flow+0x7cf/0xe90 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5e_configure_flower+0xcaa/0x4b90 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5e_rep_setup_tc_cls_flower+0x99/0x1b0 [mlx5_core] Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: mlx5e_rep_setup_tc_cb+0x133/0x1e0 [mlx5_core] -- Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: Freed by task 8833: Feb 21 09:02:00 c-237-177-40-045 kernel: kasan_save_s ---truncated---

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

5.188300f225268be9ee2c0daf5a3f23929fcdcbf213
Vendor states this is fixed in 2d57a514f9ab7d2d40f49b02d93edfcec8c78a9e (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8fd1dac646e6b08d03e3f1ad3c5b34255b1e08e8 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in c382b693ffcb1f1ebf60d76ab9dedfe9ea13eedf (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in e9fce818fe003b6c527f25517b9ac08eb4661b5d (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.18 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.28 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.2.15 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.3.2 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.4 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

8.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED

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