CVE-2023-54262

Flow-state corruption via stale post-action attribute clone

Published Dec 30, 2025 · Updated Dec 30, 2025

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel mlx5e driver allows attackers on the adjacent L2 segment to corrupt hardware flow state via ARP or ND. mlx5e_tc_post_act_add() clones a post-action attribute already cloned by mlx5e_clone_flow_attr_for_post_act(), leaving a stale copy that neighbor updates fail to refresh before mlx5_cmd_set_fte() dereferences it. Reachability requires mlx5 eswitch hardware offload with encapsulated TC flows; a crafted neighbor update can corrupt steering state, break flows, or crash the host.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.26%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel mlx5e driver allows attackers on the adjacent L2 segment to corrupt hardware flow state via ARP or ND. mlx5e_tc_post_act_add() clones a post-action attribute already cloned by mlx5e_clone_flow_attr_for_post_act(), leaving a stale copy that neighbor updates fail to refresh before mlx5_cmd_set_fte() dereferences it. Reachability requires mlx5 eswitch hardware offload with encapsulated TC flows; a crafted neighbor update can corrupt steering state, break flows, or crash the host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-54262
Published
Dec 30, 2025
Updated
Dec 30, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 30, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 30, 2025Record 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.18
  2. Affected versionversion=8300f225268be9ee2c0daf5a3f23929fcdcbf213 <2d57a514f9ab7d2d40f49b02d93edfcec8c78a9e
  3. Affected versionversion=8300f225268be9ee2c0daf5a3f23929fcdcbf213 <8fd1dac646e6b08d03e3f1ad3c5b34255b1e08e8
  4. Affected versionversion=8300f225268be9ee2c0daf5a3f23929fcdcbf213 <c382b693ffcb1f1ebf60d76ab9dedfe9ea13eedf
  5. Affected versionversion=8300f225268be9ee2c0daf5a3f23929fcdcbf213 <e9fce818fe003b6c527f25517b9ac08eb4661b5d

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.18; version=8300f225268be9ee2c0daf5a3f23929fcdcbf213 <2d57a514f9ab7d2d40f49b02d93edfcec8c78a9e; version=8300f225268be9ee2c0daf5a3f23929fcdcbf213 <8fd1dac646e6b08d03e3f1ad3c5b34255b1e08e8; version=8300f225268be9ee2c0daf5a3f23929fcdcbf213 <c382b693ffcb1f1ebf60d76ab9dedfe9ea13eedf; version=8300f225268be9ee2c0daf5a3f23929fcdcbf213 <e9fce818fe003b6c527f25517b9ac08eb4661b5d

Published CVSS scores

8.8LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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