CVE-2023-52581
Description
A use-after-free flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s nftables sub-component due to a race problem between the set GC and transaction in the Linux Kernel. This flaw allows a local attacker to crash the system. This flaw is similar to the previous CVE-2023-4244 but for a different part of the source code.
Statement
Exploiting this flaw will require CAP_NET_ADMIN access privilege in any user or network namespace.
Also, on non-containerized deployments of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can disable user namespaces by setting user.max_user_namespaces to 0:
$ echo "user.max_user_namespaces=0" > /etc/sysctl.d/userns.conf $ sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.d/userns.conf
On containerized deployments, such as Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, do not use this mitigation as the functionality is needed to be enabled.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is to skip loading the affected module "nftables" onto the system until we have an available fix. This can be done by a blacklist mechanism and will ensure the driver is not loaded at the boot time.
How do I blacklist a kernel module to prevent it from loading automatically?
https://access.redhat.com/solutions/41278
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7 | N/A | 6.3 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Instability; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)
Most memory leaks result in general product reliability problems, but if an attacker can intentionally trigger a memory leak, the attacker might be able to launch a denial of service attack (by crashing or hanging the program) or take advantage of other unexpected program behavior resulting from a low memory condition.
Other
Technical Impact: Reduce Performance
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
