Networking interruption via reversed CT and TC cleanup
Published Feb 26, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
Improper cleanup in Linux 5.18 through 5.18.3 allows local users to interrupt mlx5 networking during uplink representative teardown. In mlx5e_cleanup_rep_tx, connection-tracking cleanup destroys shared forwarding actions before traffic-control cleanup deletes offloaded tuples that still reference them. Reachability requires an mlx5 uplink representative with offloaded traffic-control connection-tracking rules, and teardown produces a kernel warning with availability impact limited to the affected networking path.
Summary
What happened
Improper cleanup in Linux 5.18 through 5.18.3 allows local users to interrupt mlx5 networking during uplink representative teardown. In mlx5e_cleanup_rep_tx, connection-tracking cleanup destroys shared forwarding actions before traffic-control cleanup deletes offloaded tuples that still reference them. Reachability requires an mlx5 uplink representative with offloaded traffic-control connection-tracking rules, and teardown produces a kernel warning with availability impact limited to the affected networking path.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-49338
- Published
- Feb 26, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 26, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.18
- Affected versionversion=d1a3138f7913014e0714cb1d3d44793d76fc38a1 <11bcc79f4bcd244145e6a2c04d5dc755303492a8
- Affected versionversion=d1a3138f7913014e0714cb1d3d44793d76fc38a1 <15ef9efa855cf405fadd78272e1e5d04e09a1cf3
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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